Liggende vrouw 1887 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing, called "Liggende vrouw," with a stick of charcoal, and you can see the decisions the artist made in real time. It's like a map of a thought. The materiality of charcoal gives it a unique texture, it's dry and crumbly, so the lines have this broken, almost hesitant quality. Look at the way Israels captures the folds of the woman’s dress with these parallel marks, and how they create a sense of volume and depth. It's not about perfection, it's about the energy of the gesture, and the way that energy translates into form. There’s a real contrast between the angularity of the lines and the softness of the subject matter. It reminds me of Degas' drawings. Drawings like these are part of an ongoing conversation. They capture a moment, but also invite us to continue that conversation ourselves. They are not fixed, not definitive, and that's what makes them so exciting.