Mandenmaker 1874 - 1945

Carel Adolph Lion Cachet made this drawing called Mandenmaker with black chalk, perhaps rubbing it in places to create those lovely soft, smudgy shadows. I imagine the artist in his studio, stepping back and squinting, seeing how the image emerges from the gloom. Look how the light falls across the page, like a spotlight illuminating the scene. It's like watching a photograph develop in the darkroom. What must it have been like to make? Did he have the man in front of him? The man's face is hidden, so he might have been working from memory, or simply imagining a scene. All artists borrow from each other, and I see echoes of Rembrandt in the way Cachet uses light and shadow to create mood and drama. And just like that, another artist adds their voice to the chorus.