Straatgezicht en twee hoofden c. 1886 - 1934

This is Isaac Israels’s “Street View and Two Heads,” a drawing held at the Rijksmuseum. Israels was a Dutch Jewish artist known for his impressionistic depictions of urban life in the Netherlands and beyond. Here, we see a rapidly sketched street scene above two heads. It’s as if we’re catching glimpses of the everyday, an intimate perspective shaped by the artist’s own experiences and social position. How does Israels, as a member of a minority community, navigate and observe the dominant culture? His sketches don’t offer grand narratives, but rather a focus on fleeting moments. These incomplete images allow for a sense of possibility, a challenge to traditional representations. What does it mean to capture the ephemeral? What stories can we piece together from these fragments of urban life and portraiture?