Julie de Graag

Anna Julia "Julie" de Graag, was born at Gorinchem on 18 July 1877 and died at The Hague on 2 February 1924. She was a Dutch watercolourist, printmaker, and painter.

Biography

Family Born in Gorinchem, Julie de Graag was the fourth of six children. After her third birthday, their parents, Johannes de Graag (1839–1916) and Karoline Stephana Couwenberg (1850–1935), moved to Bois-le-Duc.

As a child, she was identified as having a fragile health, and received special attention. Her mother, who was a talented amateur painter, passed on to her daughter her passion for manual work and drawing.

In the 1890s, the family moved to The Hague. Julie de Graag then established herself as an independent artist and developed multiple skills in woodcut, embroidery, and painting.

On 1 January 1908, a fire ravaged the farm where she had established her workshop, resulting in the destruction of a large number of her works.

Relief prints using the end grain are called wood engravings, whereas those using longitudinal wood are called woodcuts.

Julie de Graag's work has been described as powerful, and as showing a technical mastery, making use of strong contrasting colours, and the omission of details. the Kröller-Müller Museum, the Museum of Modern Art Arnhem, the Boijmans Van Beunigen museum, the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, the Teylers Museum,

Animals

Flowers and plants

Landscapes

Literature

Hinrichs, Jan Paul (2026). De guts als metgezel. Julie de Graag 1877–1924 [The Gouge as Companion. Julie de Graag 1877–1924] (in Dutch). 's-Gravenhage: Statenhofpers. Graag, Julie de (2026). De houtsneden [The Woodcuts] (eds. Christianne Duchateau & Jaap Schipper) (in Dutch). 's-Gravenhage: Statenhofpers.