Kastanjeblad 1887 - 1924

Julie de Graag made Kastanjeblad, or Chestnut Leaf, using watercolor, pen and ink. The way the leaves fan out creates a structured map of veins and decay. I love that mix of order and chaos. Look at the way the ink bleeds and pools, creating these ghostly shadows. The colors are muted – ochre, sienna, and hints of green – like a memory of summer fading into fall. That one curled leaf in the lower right, it's like a tiny sculpture, an echo of the larger form. It gives a sense of time passing, cycles turning. I’m reminded of Agnes Martin’s delicate grids. There's a similar sense of quiet contemplation, of finding beauty in the everyday. It’s an image that stays with you, like a half-remembered dream.