Konijn 1917

Julie de Graag made this small drawing of a rabbit, probably in 1917, with delicate strokes of pencil on paper. I can imagine Julie, bent over her desk, her brow furrowed in concentration, carefully rendering the soft curves of the rabbit’s body. The animal is framed by stark vertical bars, a curious juxtaposition of freedom and confinement. What might she have been thinking? Was she contemplating the fragility of life, the vulnerability of this gentle creature? The rhythmic lines create a sense of depth, like a stage set, with the rabbit as the main character in its own little drama. There's a naive sensibility here, too, that reminds me of other artists such as Henri Rousseau who embraced simplicity and directness in their work. Maybe, like all artists, they were in conversation, across time and space, drawn to the magic that happens when we put pencil to paper.