Ontwerp voor een standaard c. 1905 - 1906

This is Carel Adolph Lion Cachet's sketch for a standard, made with graphite on paper. It’s funny to think about how preliminary sketches allow us to see the artist thinking through the object, the same way a painter might work through layers of paint. Here, you can see three iterations of what looks like a lamp or banner stand, each slightly different, and each built up with these delicate, almost tentative lines. The texture of the paper is visible beneath the graphite, grounding the design with a sense of materiality. Look how the weight of the base in the bottom sketch anchors the whole composition, while the geometric pattern in the central sketch feels almost like a precursor to mid-century modernism. This work, like many design sketches, reminds me of the constant conversation artists have with each other, across time and medium, each idea building upon the last in this ongoing, ambiguous, and beautiful exchange.