Studieblad, onder andere met zonnebloemen, een wandklok en een console c. 1855 - 1859

Jozef Israëls made this sketchbook page using graphite on paper. These materials are about as basic as it gets: paper, likely made from pulped rags or wood, and graphite, mined from the earth. Yet, the apparent simplicity of the materials belies the complexity of the scene, and its significance in the history of art. We see a jumble of objects: sunflowers, a grandfather clock, a wall-mounted shelf, and figures. These studies are concerned with the everyday and the handmade. The clock, for instance, would have been a central feature in a domestic interior, regulating the rhythms of daily life. Israëls seems drawn to the way such objects, born of craft and industry, shape human experience. What we see here is not just a collection of sketches, but a reflection on the social context of artistic creation, and the ways in which craft and design intersect with the lives of ordinary people.