Ornamenten met een bloem c. 1897 - 1898

Carel Adolph Lion Cachet made this pencil sketch, “Ornamenten met een bloem,” in the Netherlands. The sketch seems to be a design for a stained-glass window in the style of the Amsterdam School, an important branch of Dutch Expressionist architecture. The Amsterdam School flourished after the First World War, a period that saw the rebuilding of Dutch towns and cities. The movement was socialist, and artists like Cachet believed that art should be integrated into everyday life, and be accessible to all. Here we see the preliminary design, the first step in realizing that vision. Understanding the social context of art involves delving into archives and libraries, and exploring the writings and manifestos of artists. Art always exists within society; and our appreciation of it deepens immeasurably when we consider the world that it inhabits.