Vrouw met een hand achter haar hoofd 1875 - 1934

This drawing by Isaac Israels, called "Vrouw met een hand achter haar hoofd" is made with a simple pencil on paper. It's all about the line, the gesture, the quick capture of a moment. I love how the marks are so raw, you can almost feel Israels’ hand moving across the page. The lines are searching, not quite sure, but full of energy. Look at how he's rendered the hair, these scribbled lines convey so much movement and volume with so few strokes. It’s kind of like a dance, right? Or like sketching with your eyes closed, letting your hand do the thinking. It reminds me a bit of Degas, who also loved to capture these intimate, casual moments. But there's something so vulnerable and immediate about Israels’ drawing. It's like he's inviting us into his private world, a world of fleeting moments and quiet observation. Art at its best invites us to see the world in new and unexpected ways.