Toeschouwers bij drie olifanten c. 1930

Carel Adolph Lion Cachet made this drawing, "Toeschouwers bij drie olifanten," which translates as "Spectators with three elephants," with graphite on paper. Just look at the way these lines are so tentative and free. It feels like he’s trying to capture a memory, not just an image, of these giant beautiful beasts. And then there are the spectators – faces peeking down from the top. I can imagine him trying to record everything really quickly because, you know, the elephants and the people are moving. You get this feeling of a moment in time, a fleeting scene, and the artist is just trying to hold onto it with a few strokes of a pencil. It reminds me of some of Philip Guston’s late work, the way the forms are so raw and unrefined, but full of life. It’s like they’re both in conversation across time, about what it means to really see something and then try to draw it.