Kikker 1887 - 1924

Julie de Graag made this tiny pencil drawing of a frog, titled Kikker, on paper. Look at how the lines of the frog’s body have been so economically rendered. It’s more like a suggestion of a frog than a detailed study, capturing just the right amount of information. The pencil is so soft, the lines almost smudged into the page, like a memory of a frog rather than the frog itself. Notice the careful attention to the texture of the frog’s skin. De Graag uses tiny, delicate strokes to suggest the bumps and wrinkles. It’s really subtle, but it makes the frog feel so alive and present. Thinking about how De Graag pares everything back to these minimal gestures reminds me of Agnes Martin’s subtle grids, the way she manages to say so much with so little. And that’s what makes this frog so special – the way it invites us to slow down, to really see and appreciate the beauty of simplicity. It reminds us that art is an ongoing conversation, an exchange of ideas across time, and that ambiguity is a strength, not a weakness.