Liggende cyperse kat 1917

Julie de Graag made this small drawing of a cat, in 1917, probably with watercolour and ink. It’s so simple, just a few colours, but those stripes give so much information! De Graag really understands how to make a mark. There’s a real economy of means, that lets her capture the essence of cat-ness. The flat colour blocks create a pattern that's almost abstract, but then those details – the white patch on the chest, the closed eyes – bring it right back to reality. Look at how the stripes follow the curves of the body. They swirl around, creating depth and volume, but also flatten the image out again. It’s this push and pull between abstraction and representation that makes the work so interesting. De Graag’s work reminds me of other female artists working at the turn of the century like Hilma af Klint, in that she reduces her subjects to their essence. It’s this simplification that allows us to really see.