Cirkel in een cirkel c. 1897 - 1898

Editor: Here we have Carel Adolph Lion Cachet’s “Circle in a Circle,” a pencil drawing on paper from around 1897. It feels so simple, almost like a technical drawing. What's your take? Curator: Ah, Cachet! He wasn't just about precision. To me, this drawing hums with a certain esoteric energy. The Art Nouveau movement, which Cachet was a part of, loved to play with hidden meanings and the spiritual undercurrents of form. This simple circle echoes mandalas, ancient symbols of wholeness. Editor: So you see more than just geometry? Curator: Absolutely! Those seemingly simple pencil lines, slightly wavering, breathe life into what could be cold calculation. The negative space vibrates. Consider that curve to the right of the circles; isn’t there some potential for dynamism within the shapes, ready to leap off the page, but being held within the frame, contained and controlled? And Cachet, his initials spell "CAC" as if he is "caching" these elements on paper... a perfect hidden allegory perhaps? Editor: "CAC," I like that. What does it "cache" for you? Curator: Perhaps a vision of controlled energy, or an introspective study of containment. There’s almost a meditative quality. Doesn’t it pull you into its quiet orbit? Or are you still seeing it as simply a preliminary sketch for something grander? Editor: Maybe a little of both? I appreciate the potential for something deeper, but it still holds that raw, unfinished appeal for me. It's like seeing the artist’s thought process. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure! The beauty, isn't it, lies in the beholding. Whether simple shape or portal to another plane, its beauty whispers just beyond its form.