Groep staande vrouwen 1887 - 1934

Isaac Israels created this sketch of standing women with graphite on paper. There's an immediacy to the way he's captured the group, almost like a snapshot. You can see the texture of the paper coming through the quick, almost scribbled lines. Look how he suggests the forms of the women with just a few strokes, barely defining their shapes, more interested in the overall impression. It's a really ephemeral, fleeting moment he's pinned down. The marks remind me of those moments in painting where you’re trying to get something down fast before it disappears. The whole piece is so light and airy, it's like he’s drawing with air. It makes me think of Whistler and his interest in capturing atmospheric effects, or even Manet's sketches, where the form is barely there but the feeling is palpable. In art, it's often what's left unsaid that speaks the loudest, and Israels really understood that.