Julie de Graag

As a child De Graag was deeply interested in nature, and we can see this fascination developing in her later depictions of plants, animals and landscapes. Many artists admired the work of De Graag, who specialised in woodcuts. Her clear lines may seem very simple, but carving them requires an incredible technical mastery of the medium. The Rijksmuseum collection contains a large portion of De Graag’s oeuvre, including several drawings that bear traces of a fire that destroyed much of her work in 1908. After long struggles with depression, De Graag ended her life at the age of 46.