Stoel c. 1930

Curator: Here at the Rijksmuseum, we have a quick pen-ink sketch dating back to about 1930 by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet, called simply, "Stoel," which is Dutch for "chair." Editor: I find myself oddly charmed by its simplicity. It's just a single, unadorned chair rendered with these incredibly delicate lines. It almost feels like a forgotten thought captured on paper. Curator: It's from one of the artist's sketchbooks, isn't it? These were the types of loose drawing captured as potential future studies and paintings, or they are purely exercises that might illuminate aspects of the artist's process. Editor: Absolutely! It gives the feeling that he’s designing in real-time, which in and of itself feels like an expression of the freedom, a lack of restriction. Do you see the decoration around the chair seat’s supports? He is giving it that vintage Dutch flourish while keeping with the rest of his overall, economical style. It is amazing! Curator: It certainly shows a departure from his more widely known decorative arts style, leaning here into early modernist sensibilities of line and reduction of detail that came to define the post-war years. Editor: You're right. It does possess that minimalist sensibility, focusing more on form and utility over ornamentation. But that’s why I keep circling back to that flourish. It feels almost satirical. Curator: Maybe we should ask him? I mean, if that were possible... Sadly, Cachet passed in 1945, but thankfully he’s left this enigmatic little riddle for us to consider. It underscores the fact that art never exists in a vacuum. The push and pull of various aesthetic currents were happening simultaneously, something that is so beautifully revealed within the intimate sphere of an artist's personal sketchbook. Editor: Well said. I think I might add to that and simply say it underscores the ongoing experiment of living in any moment of historical time, be that then or now. It may just be a chair but it's a symbol of existing and experimenting.