Plattegrond c. 1905 - 1906

Curator: Before us is "Plattegrond," a pencil drawing on paper, crafted around 1905-1906 by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet. Editor: It has the immediacy of a quick sketch – faint pencil lines, geometric shapes… Almost dreamlike in its vagueness. Curator: It’s fascinating to view this drawing in relationship to the history of the artist. Cachet, notably interested in both the traditional and modern, made it a habit to document plans or concepts like these, providing insight into his creative process at a crucial moment in time. Here, you see how his intimist style begins to blend form with symbolism in order to express himself. Editor: Symbolism is definitely at play, but it's coded, isn't it? Those repeated, almost house-like shapes remind me of sheltering archetypes, a return to origins and safety... like a child's drawing, or the simple blueprint for building something foundational. Curator: Precisely. And the very act of drawing – of rendering this “plan” – reveals a desire to grapple with control. You’re seeing both order and disorder, reflection and distortion, as Cachet moves between real world form and abstract imagination, negotiating the anxieties of early modernity. Editor: But is it simply a matter of high anxiety? The gentle pencil strokes and domestic scale lend this artwork a uniquely personal quality. Almost confessional. What sort of secrets could those walls hold? Curator: This interplay between vulnerability and order marks a transitional period in Dutch art history. Lion Cachet and his peers helped lay bare the contradictions in late 19th and early 20th-century society. Editor: It makes one appreciate the beauty in the preliminary. “Plattegrond” resonates as not just a concept, but as a timeless invitation to look inward. Curator: Exactly – a challenge to examine our own social structures in order to more honestly engage the times in which we find ourselves.