Figuurstudies 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made these figure studies, probably in a sketchbook, with some kind of drawing stick – a pencil, charcoal, or crayon. You can see the speedy process of the artist trying to capture a figure in a few marks. It’s like the difference between a snapshot and a formal portrait. Look at the way Israels uses line – how the marks vary in pressure and weight. It makes the figures feel alive, like they’re breathing and moving on the page. I’m drawn to the open, searching quality of the lines, as if he’s mapping the body in real time. There’s a real intimacy in the way he renders the curves of the body. I think of Matisse, who was also interested in the power of a simple, searching line. With both artists, the process feels more important than the product. In this way, art becomes about the act of seeing and recording, rather than a quest for perfect representation.