Twee jongens in een schoolbank 1874 - 1945

Carel Adolph Lion Cachet made this drawing of two boys in a school bank using pencil. Look at how the tones vary and how each mark is so deliberate. I bet the artist was intrigued by the way the light fell on their faces, the soft shadows, and the way the boys are so still. What I find interesting is the way they are cropped; we don't see their whole bodies but they are compressed into the frame, which makes me feel sympathetic for these kids. Perhaps Cachet aimed to capture their focus amidst the tedium of school. I wonder, too, what he was thinking when he decided to leave sections of the paper bare. The blank space is not emptiness but an active part of the composition. Artists are constantly responding to one another. I see echoes of Degas in this work. It reminds me that art is a conversation that transcends time. It invites a variety of feelings and interpretations that change over time.