Ontwerp voor een doopvont c. 1905 - 1906

Curator: Here we have Carel Adolph Lion Cachet’s "Ontwerp voor een doopvont," dating from around 1905-1906. It’s rendered in pencil on paper, a preparatory sketch, it seems. Editor: Oh, a baptismal font! My first thought is...gentle. Like a whisper. The soft pencil lines and the aged paper give it such a tender, almost ethereal feel. It feels like holding someone's dream in your hands. Curator: Indeed. Note how the artist employs delicate hatching to model the form. The lightly toned paper serves to enhance the subtle gradations in value. One can discern Cachet’s interest in surface and light, even in this nascent stage. The swirling details feel distinctly Art Nouveau, in keeping with Cachet’s affinity for this emerging style at the time. Editor: Those swirling details really do draw the eye upwards, like smoke or the soft climb of water in a fountain. You get the impression of constant motion even in a stationary object. Makes you think, what IS the relationship between stasis and kinesis? Curator: The dialectic is certainly operative here. Furthermore, let us consider the composition itself. The design for the font is presented alongside ancillary sketches, including the quatrefoil motif seen to the right of the larger column and partial fountain seen near the bottom. It suggests a fluid thought process, a sort of visual note-taking. Editor: Almost stream-of-consciousness but make it architectural. Imagine sitting there with him, coffee lukewarm, as these ideas gently flow and form on the page! Also, those shapes, that flower-like quatrefoil you mentioned? Those really add to the whimsical nature of the composition, making it more light-hearted! Curator: A crucial element is the spiral detail winding up the font’s central column. It draws the viewer upwards. Consider the implications of its dynamic trajectory! Editor: I guess at its core this sketch does ask some critical questions on spiritual spaces. It gets one thinking about both ascension, depth and beauty. Curator: Quite. Through these rudimentary lines, one discerns a meditation on faith and form. Editor: Beautiful. That's what happens when thought becomes material and we hold a piece of intention!