Vrouwenhoofd 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing, Vrouwenhoofd, at an unknown date with a graphite pencil, and what strikes me is its openness. It’s a sketch, a whisper of a face emerging from the paper. Look at how Israels uses the pencil – such light, feathery strokes, barely there in some places, then darker, more insistent lines defining the features. It feels like he’s searching, feeling his way around the form, like a sculptor adding clay. You can almost see the ghost of an earlier version of the face, slightly to the side. Israels wasn't afraid to leave those traces, to show the process. It reminds me of some of Degas’ drawings, that same sense of capturing a fleeting moment, a gesture. There’s a beauty in that incompleteness, a sense of potential, like the drawing could keep evolving, keep changing. And isn't that how we all are, constantly becoming?