Triomfbogen en ornamenten met een kop van een kat c. 1901

Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof made this drawing of triumphal arches and ornaments with a cat's head, probably in pencil, and maybe it was just a fleeting idea jotted down in a sketchbook. I imagine him lightly sketching these architectural forms, these feline faces, on what looks like lined paper. You know, like doodling in a notebook during a boring meeting, except, you know, beautiful. I wonder if he was thinking about how the rigidity of architectural elements could be softened by the organic, whimsical form of a cat's face. And how cool is it to think about these arches, these symbols of power and victory, being guarded by a cat? It makes me think about the spaces we create and how we choose to adorn them. The cat is an ancient symbol, and artists are always looking back, riffing off each other, and finding new ways to make images.