Schetsboek XV met 22 bladen c. 1915s - 1925s

Curator: Well, hello there! I must say, "Sketchbook XV with 22 Sheets" by Isaac Israels, circa 1915 to 1925, presents a certain... mystery, doesn't it? Looking at this mixed-media work on paper—watercolor, pencil, colored pencil—I feel transported. I imagine the artist with this very book sitting at a table, recording daily life. Editor: My initial impression? It's subdued, almost ghostly. The aged paper lends a sense of time passing, memory fading. It's less a declaration and more a whisper. I like it. Curator: A whisper indeed. Knowing Israels, that’s fitting. He always seemed to be observing the quiet moments. Though mostly, he seems to have been observing women and painting that subject repeatedly. It’s funny because this sketch book is now a very public, exhibited item, filled with private scribblings. Irony? I’m not sure! Editor: Private turned public does add a layer. Visually, I'm drawn to the horizontal bands on the cover and smudges. Are they accidental, or did Israels purposefully manipulate the surface? Could they symbolize layers of experience or censorship even? I have so many questions. Curator: Intriguing idea about the symbolism. Knowing Israels and his peers who were impressionists, their approach was typically capturing light, movement, and immediacy. I'd hazard a guess that it reflects that aim in particular. What else can this paper tell us? The artist seems to have included many figures, sketches, annotations. The mystery and unfinished quality invite you to fill in gaps of these people's stories. Editor: That is right. Even unfinished, the notebook emanates an aura of untold stories. The smudges on this old cover may be accidents but are there stories around that? As an artifact, it becomes almost like a time capsule filled with captured fleeting impressions. These unfinished narratives contain traces and intimations. What if this cover whispers, what has become invisible? Curator: Wonderful observation! Indeed, we are left to interpret fragments, filling in stories from our own experiences. And in that, perhaps, we find the real beauty of this "Sketchbook XV," held now here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Precisely. And perhaps it serves as a poignant reminder that memory and identity are also fluid and shaped through layers of experience, hidden stories and visual echoes over time.