Jonge vrouw met hoed, in profiel 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing of a young woman in a hat using pencil on paper. Look at how the marks dance and suggest form with such minimal effort. I can almost feel the quick flicks of the wrist, a kind of shorthand for seeing. There is a hat, a face, but it's like a fleeting impression, a sketch of a moment. I imagine Israels standing there, charcoal in hand, trying to capture something so ephemeral: the angle of the hat, the turn of the head. Did he labor over it, or did it emerge in one go? Did he struggle and rework? And what was she thinking, this woman? Was she even aware she was being sketched? It makes you think about the history of mark making, and how much information you need to know to be inspired by it. It's like all the artists are in a big conversation, across time, inspiring each other.