Zittende man op een kerkbank c. 1905 - 1906

Editor: Here we have Carel Adolph Lion Cachet's "Zittende man op een kerkbank", made around 1905 or 1906, a simple pencil drawing held at the Rijksmuseum. The fleeting nature of the sketch gives it an ethereal, almost dreamlike quality, wouldn't you agree? What do you make of the interplay between the realistic setting and the fantastical figure floating above? Curator: Oh, I find it utterly captivating! It's like peeking into the artist's mind. This piece feels like a fragment of a larger story, a moment caught between worlds. I think the church pew is not just a place, but a stage where the mundane meets the divine. What's your initial sense of the floating figure? Editor: To me, it appears to be some kind of supernatural presence looking down upon the other figures...but I am really curious as to how this work reflects broader cultural anxieties of the period. Curator: Absolutely, that figure might represent longing, the unattainable, or perhaps a repressed desire lurking just beyond the reach of societal norms. The church, once a bastion of order, now hosts this internal drama. Imagine Cachet grappling with faith and sensuality. The period was bubbling with these tensions as rigid Victorian mores crumbled! What sort of emotional atmosphere do you think the artist attempts to evoke in the audience? Editor: Hmmm, something about it feels claustrophobic, like all the action is trapped inside this tiny box of the page, with no room for anyone to breathe, particularly the angel or figure. Curator: Precisely! Trapped. The genius is that Cachet can conjure the vastness of the soul on such an intimate scale. A true gem, hinting at silent revolutions. Now, aren't you glad we paused for a moment of reflection to contemplate? Editor: I am, completely, I'm now leaving with an enriched view, I hadn't considered that at first, especially of its reflection of tensions within the soul and social revolution of that era.