Stoelen c. 1897 - 1898

Editor: Here we have "Stoelen," a pencil drawing on paper, created around 1897-1898 by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet. The sketches are quite faint, almost ghostly, yet geometric shapes emerge… What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a fascinating intersection of design, power, and the domestic sphere. Chairs are never just chairs; they signify status, exclusion, who gets to sit at the table, both literally and figuratively. Cachet, working at the cusp of the 20th century, would have been very aware of design reform movements and the growing calls for social equality. Editor: So you see a social commentary in… chair sketches? Curator: Absolutely. The starkness of the lines, the almost architectural quality of some of the designs… To me, it suggests an engagement with ideas about functionalism and perhaps a critique of overly ornamented styles associated with aristocracy. Think about the Arts and Crafts movement occurring at the time. Who had access to beautifully designed objects, and what did that say about class divisions? Editor: That’s an interesting way to frame it. I was just thinking, "chair doodles," but I guess nothing exists in a vacuum. Curator: Precisely. And remember, art is often a silent dialogue with the political landscape. It invites us to consider how objects, even mundane ones, reflect the power structures of their time. Where do you think these sketches might be leading Cachet? What social spaces or people are on his mind as he considers furniture and place settings? Editor: I see the lines from the different chair examples bleeding together. Maybe this represents a time of rapid societal transformation? Curator: That's a brilliant reading! The overlap speaks to something nascent, undecided. This brings new context to what I assumed was mundane.