Mand met appelen 1887 - 1924

Editor: It's a study, wouldn't you say? Austere and somehow endearing in its simplicity. Curator: Indeed. This is "Mand met appelen," or "Basket of Apples," a pencil drawing by Julie de Graag, created sometime between 1887 and 1924. It currently resides in the Rijksmuseum. Editor: The weaving of the basket strikes me. It's quite detailed in contrast to the rest of the sketch, almost highlighting the labor and craft behind something so ordinary. Curator: Precisely. The starkness of the pencil lines and the strategic use of shading invite us to consider form and composition. Notice how De Graag directs our eye. Editor: You're referring to the hatching? How it curves to define the apples, and then contrasts with the sharp angles of the basket weave? Curator: Exactly! Semiotically, the basket itself acts as a container—not only for fruit, but ideas about abundance and provision. Editor: It almost looks like she ran out of time or interest when sketching the base below. Does it speak to a utilitarian approach, just capture what's necessary? It makes me consider the artistic labor as inherently embedded in these apple studies. Curator: I agree, one could say her intent might have been an investigation of perspective. The apples themselves, are presented in this compressed space. Editor: Or she simply documented the means of survival: rendering these apples beautiful when perhaps resources were scarce? Food as sustenance rendered artistically... Curator: It’s certainly a meditation on modest subject matter that, due to skillful draftsmanship, transcends its ordinariness. Editor: And yet, what could be more ordinary than food and its vessel? De Graag lifts this mundanity to another level by elevating it into artistic form using only pencil. Curator: Food for thought indeed, quite literally in this case. Editor: Absolutely, an exercise in close looking.