Drie ontwerpen voor een bord 1874 - 1945

Carel Adolph Lion Cachet made these three designs for a plate with pencil and watercolour, but when, we don't know! What grabs me here is the tension between the rigid grid underneath and the fluid, organic shapes on top. You can see the artist working through ideas in real time. There's a push and pull that feels very alive. Look at the watercolor version – how the colors bleed just a little, softening the edges. The reds, blues, yellows and greens are really playful. Then there’s the central motif, a crown-like form, rendered in a slightly deeper shade of orange, like a focal point, but somehow dissolving back into the pattern! It’s a beautiful mess. This reminds me a little of some of Hilma af Klint's earlier botanical studies, where she was also exploring pattern, symmetry, and the relationship between the natural world and abstract form. It's a reminder that art is always in conversation with itself, across time and place.