Ontwerp voor een monumentale bank ter ere van burgemeester van Haarlem Cornelis Maarschalk van Egmond en Rinnegom 1874 - 1945

This is a design for a monumental bench, made by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet. I love the subtle, smoky watercolor washes, and you can almost feel him figuring it out as he goes, adjusting the design as he lays down each layer. Look at the way the monument almost floats above the bench. There’s something about the way it’s rendered that makes it feel less like a solid structure and more like a ghostly form. It's all about the process. You can see how the artist worked and reworked the image. I can imagine a conversation between this piece and some of Claes Oldenburg’s large-scale public sculptures. Both artists embrace ambiguity and multiple interpretations, using public art as a way to question our relationship to the built environment. Art is an ongoing conversation. I think this work reminds us to slow down and savor the imaginative possibilities of a drawing.