Mandenmaker 1874 - 1945

Carel Adolph Lion Cachet made this drawing, Mandenmaker, with chalk. It's all about process isn't it, the soft yielding line of the chalk, the artist feeling his way through the image, almost like touch. The texture here is really interesting; that soft chalkiness gives everything this dreamy, smudgy quality. See how the vertical lines of the screen behind the figure contrast with the dark mass in the upper right corner? It's like a push and pull, a visual dance that keeps your eye moving. There's a real physicality to how the chalk sits on the page, like you could almost brush it away with your hand, but I wouldn't try it! The way these lines merge and diverge create a real sense of depth and atmosphere, like looking through a veil. Cachet's work reminds me a bit of Whistler, that same interest in atmosphere and suggestion, that willingness to let the image emerge rather than dictate it. Art is about embracing the unknown, the unfinished, the ambiguous, and this drawing does that beautifully.