Studieblad, onder andere met een gezicht 1896

Curator: This is "Studieblad, onder andere met een gezicht" (Study Sheet, including a Face), a pencil and ink drawing from 1896 by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet, housed at the Rijksmuseum. The scribbled, ephemeral nature of the lines gives it a ghostly quality. What strikes you about this sketch? Editor: The sketchiness is what grabs me – it feels so immediate and raw, like we're seeing the artist's thought process. What I find intriguing is how, even in this loose form, the artist employs materials such as pencils to generate ideas through art. Curator: Exactly. Consider the societal position of sketches and studies at this time. These weren’t necessarily meant for public display, but were fundamental to the artist's process, serving as a space for material exploration and the development of ideas. The readily available pencil and relatively inexpensive paper enabled a freedom of experimentation. Notice how the face isn't fully formed but implied, suggesting a fluid, evolving thought. Do you see any connections between this approach and, perhaps, broader social shifts in attitudes toward art and labor? Editor: It's fascinating that the value isn't placed solely on the finished, polished artwork, but also on these preliminary investigations. The sketch embodies labor; we're witnessing the artist work through ideas and hone their craft. I'm just wondering, does it push traditional high and low art boundaries? Curator: Absolutely, this democratizes the art-making process by shifting focus to labor. By viewing Cachet's sketch, aren't we valuing a process more typically relegated to the artist's private space? We also acknowledge his craft in manipulating something so simple to get these fascinating, fluid results. Editor: I see it now; that makes so much sense! Looking at the art making materials, the study shifts our attention away from subject and towards technique and process. Thanks for sharing this perspective, that's so intriguing. Curator: It highlights how materials, even simple ones like pencil and paper, are implicated in broader conversations about value, labor, and the very definition of "art."