Drie rechthoeken c. 1928

This simple sketch of three rectangles by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet feels like a quiet moment of planning and contemplation. I imagine Cachet, maybe in his studio, pencil in hand, working through ideas for a larger work. The lines are tentative, almost shy, as if feeling their way across the page. Each rectangle is slightly different. You can see the process and the artist thinking through dimensions and the space that each frame will occupy. It reminds me of the preliminary sketches many artists make, a kind of thinking-through-drawing where the hand leads the mind. These lines are the bare bones of a painting, but they also stand alone as an intimate record of Cachet’s creative process. It makes you think about the countless unseen sketches and ideas that lie behind every finished artwork. It's this hidden labor, this quiet, diligent exploration, that makes art so compelling.