Twee vrouwen tegenover elkaar 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing, Twee vrouwen tegenover elkaar, in the late 19th or early 20th century. What strikes me about this piece is its open, searching quality. It is made with these light, tentative lines, like the artist is feeling his way around the subject. The graphite on paper has this ephemeral quality – like a fleeting moment captured. Look at the way Israels renders the figures; the lines are almost hesitant, layered on top of each other, trying to find the form. It’s like he's not quite sure, and in that uncertainty, there's a real sense of life. The texture of the paper becomes really important here too, because you can see the tooth of the page showing through the drawing. This creates a kind of vibration, an energy. You could say this drawing is reminiscent of Degas’s sketches. Both artists share an interest in capturing the everyday and a love of the sketch as a way of understanding the world. Ultimately, this drawing resists closure. It leaves space for the viewer, for our own interpretations and projections.