Schetsboek XLVI met 32 pagina's 1875 - 1934

This is sketchbook number 46, made by Isaac Israels. It's just the cover, but that’s ok. In a way, it tells us everything about the artist’s process. The cardboard is worn, used, and a kind of brown that tells us nothing and everything about the drawings inside. It’s blank, and yet it’s so expressive, the writing a clue to the artist's hand. The number "XLVI", and the name "Israels" are written in a barely-there blue which adds a sense of depth to the otherwise featureless surface. I love this. It reminds me that art is really just life— messy, ambiguous, and totally subjective. It's like a conversation between the artist and the world, a back-and-forth where nothing is ever really finished. Israels' work reminds me a little bit of Degas, in the sense that they are both so interested in everyday life. And both of them, in their own ways, leave so much unsaid. It’s the kind of art that invites you to bring your own story to the table.