Lezende Joanna Lion Cachet-Cordes c. 1935 - 1940

Here's a drawing of Joanna Lion Cachet-Cordes reading, by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet, created with ink on paper. There's such a furious energy to these lines, almost like he’s trying to capture the speed of her thoughts as she reads. You can see how the pen hardly leaves the page, dancing across the surface to capture the way she tilts her head, her focus so intense. I wonder if he was trying to capture her likeness, or was he more concerned with the feeling of her concentration? Maybe he felt a kinship with her, this act of absorbing knowledge, word by word, line by line. It reminds me of my own studio practice, where I’m wrestling with shape, line, and form, trying to pin down something that is both fleeting and essential. I bet that Lion Cachet felt that same electric jolt of energy, trying to capture a moment in time. Artists, we're all just trying to have a conversation with the world, aren't we?