Kalenderblad augustus 1899 1899

Editor: Here we have Carel Adolph Lion Cachet's "Kalenderblad augustus 1899," an ink drawing showing a calendar page for August, awash in art nouveau motifs. It feels strangely both ancient and futuristic to me. What's your take? Curator: Ancient and futuristic… I love that! It strikes me as an attempt to make time itself ornamental. I mean, look at the way the days of the week are almost devoured by the swirling, organic forms. And "Augustus," enthroned at the top! Does it feel like a celebration of the month or more of time's relentless march? Editor: Hmm, I hadn't considered it as possibly being about the burden of time. Curator: The linear and patterned integration of the lettering and numbering does call to mind illuminated manuscripts, so there's certainly a pull towards tradition. It makes me wonder if Cachet wasn't grappling with this tension, trying to reconcile the old world with the emerging modern one through art. Notice how the symmetry is not exact, allowing it a human element amongst the mechanic repetitiveness implicit to calendar dates. Editor: Now I’m seeing the slight asymmetry you pointed out! Maybe that’s why it doesn’t feel *oppressive*, exactly. It’s a little rebellious! I wonder if his other work plays with this tension? Curator: Precisely! And absolutely! What if we considered this page as not just marking time, but also questioning our relationship with it, using the Art Nouveau aesthetic to ask some deeper questions? What might he have been trying to celebrate by visually complicating the traditional time-telling medium of the calendar? Editor: That makes me appreciate it so much more. I'll definitely look at Art Nouveau differently. Curator: Me too. The best art invites endless questions, doesn’t it?