Studies c. 1895

Editor: This is "Studies," a pencil drawing by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet, from around 1895, housed in the Rijksmuseum. It looks like a page from a sketchbook, filled with geometric forms, maybe some sort of machinery. It’s quite abstract. What strikes you most about it? Curator: I see the raw process of art-making laid bare. Look at the materiality of the sketch: the paper, the pencil strokes. It is about work, labor in the arts and sciences as an idea. What kind of labor does this reflect, what type of pencil was used? Where did the paper come from, what process did it go through to get to the artist? Editor: That’s a totally different way of looking at it! I was just thinking about what the shapes *are*. So you're more interested in, like, the physical *making* of the piece, not the subject itself. Curator: Exactly. It pushes us to consider the means of artistic production in the late 19th century. What was the artist’s relationship to the materials he used? How did industrialization influence artistic practice? Were there limits on the kind of paper? What pencils were more likely to be found and used in 1895, where was it produced, and under what labor conditions? Editor: So you’re saying the value isn’t just in the finished artwork, but in understanding all the *stuff* that went into it. Curator: Precisely. This isn't simply a "Study;" it's a record of the materials and processes consumed in artistic creation. It highlights the importance of understanding the socio-economic factors involved in the making of art. Editor: I never considered a sketch this way! Thanks, I'll be thinking of the pencil in a new light from now on.