Studies 1908

This page of studies was made with pencil on paper by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet. I love seeing the first marks that an artist makes when embarking on a piece. The hesitant lines which express an idea, or feeling, before they fully commit to it. The pencil marks in this study are fragile, vulnerable and exposed. The texture of the paper shines through, giving it a ghostly quality. Look at the way the artist returns to the same area of the paper again and again. Like the architectural forms are being refined through a process of repetition. I wonder, did the artist labor over these forms for hours or were these gestures made in an instant? It’s interesting to imagine what kind of space these rudimentary shapes might come to inhabit when further developed. This kind of rapid, exploratory approach reminds me of the drawings of Cy Twombly or the early architectural studies of Le Corbusier, those guys weren’t afraid of a bit of rough and ready mark making too. For me, art is at its best when it embraces the beauty of imperfection.