Uil 1887 - 1924

Julie de Graag drew this owl with charcoal, or maybe it's graphite – sometime before 1924. The way the marks are laid down so simply, it's like watching the form emerge right before your eyes. Look at the outline, how it confidently defines the owl's shape, but then fades and reappears, letting the background breathe through. The texture of the paper is part of the image, isn't it? You can see the tooth of the paper showing through and softening all those lines. The dark strokes around the eyes create a kind of mask, and the whole face is so graphic, so present. De Graag has managed to capture something really essential about this bird, like it's staring right through you. It reminds me of Paula Modersohn-Becker's woodcuts, where the line is everything, and the form is distilled to its purest essence. Art is just one long conversation. Isn't it?