Zittend vrouwelijk naakt en een gezicht 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this ink drawing, Zittend vrouwelijk naakt en een gezicht, sometime around the turn of the last century. Look at how he gets right in there, making these tentative yet somehow also confident lines! There’s something vulnerable and alive about the whole process. What I love here is the sketchiness. See the density of marks around the head and shoulders, and then the sparse single lines that gesture towards the rest of the body. The ink is thin and watery, almost like he’s using a calligraphy brush, making the whole image feel immediate, like a thought caught on paper. The pose is awkward, as if caught off guard, which I really admire. Think of Degas, another artist who loved to draw dancers and bathers, also capturing those in-between moments. It’s like Israels is saying, hey, life is messy and that's ok, maybe even beautiful.