Studieblad met figuren en architectuur 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this sketch of figures and architecture, we're not sure exactly when, using pencil. And right away, I get the sense he's just figuring things out, like sketching as thinking. Look at how the pencil lines are all business, no fuss. The marks are transparent, and thin, but it's not so much about the ‘what’ as the ‘how’– how to describe form, how to create space. The materiality of the lines is everything: they’re searching, confident, and vulnerable all at once. My eye keeps going back to the scribbled figures at the bottom, they're like notes to himself, a reminder of something seen or imagined. This reminds me of drawings by Manet, where the simplicity of the materials allows for a kind of directness, a sense of immediacy and honesty that's really appealing. Israels isn't trying to hide anything, he's showing us his thought process. It's like he's saying, "Here's how I see the world, what do you think?"