Ontwerp voor een ex libris met monogram CWL 1874 - 1945

Carel Adolph Lion Cachet made this design for a bookplate, or "ex libris," with pencil and watercolor. I can really feel the artist here, hunched over this gridded paper, working out ideas with careful lines, and then letting loose in the block at the top. Look at the upper design with a monogram, how the black shapes pull and push, fighting with the white spaces around them. The artist is trying to balance representation with something more abstract and decorative. What was Cachet thinking when making this? Maybe something about personal identity and taste, since a bookplate marks ownership. But it’s also about design itself, how patterns and motifs can be used to create borders and add visual interest. I am thinking of artists like William Morris, who combined craft with social ideals. As painters we are all in conversation, borrowing and responding to ideas, and it’s thrilling to see that back and forth across time. Painting isn't about fixed meanings but about a way of working through ideas.