Vrouw met haar handen in haar schoot c. 1886 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing, Woman with Her Hands in Her Lap, with pencil on paper. Look at the way he uses the pencil. The lines are loose, searching, like the artist is thinking through the form right in front of us. You can almost feel the pressure of the pencil on the page, see how the shading gives weight to her figure, especially in the dark hatching around her hands and shoulders. The simplicity of the medium puts the focus on the gesture, the pose. It feels intimate, like a quick sketch from life. Israels was part of a group of artists in Amsterdam who were influenced by French Impressionism, so it’s no surprise that his drawing feels related to Degas’ sketches of dancers. But while Degas was interested in movement, Israels captures something more still and introspective in the woman’s posture. In the end, there is something incomplete and open-ended about the image, which encourages us to bring our own ideas and associations to it.