Ontwerp voor ex libris van C.W. ter Kuile 1887 - 1924

This is a design for a bookplate, made by Julie de Graag, a Dutch artist who lived from 1877 to 1924. The image is a woodcut in black ink, with a simplified almost cartoonish hedgehog at its center. The hedgehog is surrounded by geometric shapes and text, all contained within a neat rectangle. I can imagine Julie de Graag carefully carving into the wood block to make the image, each line a deliberate act. What was she thinking as she made this? Did she love hedgehogs, or books, or the person she was making the bookplate for? I love the way the image balances simplicity and detail, the solid black areas contrasting with the fine lines of the hedgehog’s spines. The overall effect is charming and a little mysterious. It reminds me of other graphic artists from that time, like Aubrey Beardsley or the German Expressionists, who were also exploring the power of black and white imagery. It is also such an intimate, tender gesture to create a personal image to mark books. Artists are always in conversation with each other, across time and space, inspiring each other’s creativity. It's a beautiful thing.