Jan Hofker, bij het trouwen van Willem Witsen en Betty van Vloten 1875 - 1934

This drawing of Jan Hofker was made by Isaac Israels, probably with charcoal or graphite. It’s a quick sketch, a capturing of a moment at a wedding, and it feels so immediate. I imagine Israels was just there, present, and observing. You can almost see him making swift marks across the page, trying to capture the essence of Jan Hofker's profile. The background is just as interesting, those sailboats floating around in the ether. It’s as though he's trying to capture not just the person but also the atmosphere, the mood of the moment. I feel a kinship with Israels. Like him, I find so much joy in the act of looking, and then trying to put something down on the page. It's a process of discovery, of trying to figure out what it is that you see, and how it makes you feel, and then, hopefully, communicating that to someone else. It's like a painter's secret language.