Ontwerp voor een postzegel met een gekroonde W 1939

This is Carel Adolph Lion Cachet's design for a stamp, made with pen, graphite, and watercolor. Look at how the central W, for Wilhelmina, is crowned and flanked by serpentine ribbons. I wonder what Cachet was thinking when he was making this? Was he thinking about national identity? About graphic design? I bet he looked at a lot of stamps before he made his own design. The watercolor is applied so thinly, it's like he wanted to disappear as an artist, to efface himself in the service of the state. At the same time, the hand-drawn quality gives the design an organic, living feel. Painters are always looking at each other's work across time. I see connections here to heraldry, Art Nouveau, and even Pop Art. It’s so interesting how a painting can be both a personal statement and a reflection of the world around us.