Schetsboek X met 43 bladen c. 1890 - 1920

This is Isaac Israels’ sketchbook X, filled with 43 blank pages, now housed at the Rijksmuseum. It’s a humble object, right? But think about it; it was made for something. I can imagine Israels, out and about, deciding to capture a scene, and pulling out this very book. Maybe he felt the urge to capture a moment, a figure, or a fleeting impression. The blank pages within are just bursting with potential energy! Awaiting the marks that would bring them to life. It's a simple, sturdy book. You can almost feel the weight of it in your hands. And what about all those other sketchbooks? Each one a collection of ideas, experiments, failures, and breakthroughs. Artists are constantly building on what came before, learning from each other, pushing the boundaries of what painting can be. It’s like one big, ongoing conversation across time, where the best lines get re-used over and over again. It's kind of beautiful, isn’t it?