Ontwerp voor ex libris van C.W. ter Kuile 1887 - 1924

Julie de Graag designed this bookplate for C.W. ter Kuile in black ink. It's a print, so the marks are very precise and contained. Look at the hedgehog, all curled up and prickly! It's like she's thinking about the tension between inside and outside, between vulnerability and protection. The whole thing is so graphic and contrast-y, a really powerful image created using only black and white. See how the white lines of the swirling background create the illusion of movement, while the hedgehog itself stays still? What could this tension mean? De Graag’s work reminds me a bit of woodcuts by someone like Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, but with a softer, more whimsical touch. It's like she's inviting us to find our own place within the layers, embracing ambiguity rather than pinning things down.