Jongens bij een werkbank 1878 - 1924

Julie de Graag made this woodcut, Jongens bij een werkbank, or Boys at a Workbench, at an unknown date with black ink on paper. The rhythmic, repetitive marks she's made with her tools feel so calm, so sure. It's like she's figured out a secret language of line. I imagine her, almost in a trance, carefully carving away at the wood, each cut precise and deliberate. You can feel the pressure of her hand, the way she leaned into the block. I wonder if she knew these boys. Is this a memory, or something she saw? Maybe it reminded her of her own process, the way she meticulously crafted her art. It makes me think of other printmakers, like those in the German Expressionist movement, who used the starkness of black and white to convey powerful emotions. It's all part of this ongoing conversation, artists building on each other's work.