Vier wapenschilden 1874 - 1945

Carel Adolph Lion Cachet made this watercolour Vier wapenschilden, or Four Coats of Arms, on paper sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. Just look at the way he's built up the heraldic images, each layer precisely placed like a tiny little puzzle! There's such care taken in the application of each wash of colour, with the gold leaf background glinting underneath. It's like each tiny mark is a decision, a testament to the artist's skill. Those circular forms feel like a nod to stained glass windows or Byzantine mosaics, don’t they? I like how he hasn't tried to hide the handmade quality, you can almost feel the artist breathing as he created it. This piece reminds me of Hilma af Klint's occult paintings. She too explored symbolic forms with the kind of quiet dedication we see in Cachet’s heraldry. Art is just an ongoing conversation, full of echoes and whispers across time.