Ontwerp voor het interieur van een deksalon met open balustrade 1874 - 1945

This is a design for a deck salon with an open balustrade by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet, we don't know when exactly, made with pencil and watercolour. The monochrome palette is interesting; it's like the artist is thinking through the structure, the bones of the space, without getting distracted by colour. It’s all about process, about building up the image bit by bit. Look at how the columns are rendered. Each one is slightly different, not perfect, which gives the whole scene a sense of life. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the paper, figuring out the perspective, adjusting the details. It’s like a jazz riff, a set of variations on a theme. This piece reminds me a little of Piranesi, that master of architectural fantasy. But where Piranesi is grand and dramatic, Cachet is more intimate, more domestic. And like all good art, it raises more questions than it answers. What kind of ship was this for? Who would have sat in this salon? We’ll never know for sure, and that’s part of the fun.