Figuurstudies 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this figure study using a pencil on paper, and what grabs me is the immediacy, the pure process laid bare. It's like catching a glimpse into the artist's mind as he's figuring things out. You can almost feel the speed of his hand moving across the page, capturing the fleeting essence of the figures with these quick, wiry lines. There's no attempt to conceal the working process; the sketch is raw, unpolished. Look at the head at the bottom left, it is scribbled and scratched, almost as if the artist is trying to wipe it away. It reminds me a bit of Cy Twombly, in that both artists share this interest in the primal mark, the energetic gesture, and the beauty of incompletion. It's a refreshing reminder that art doesn't always have to be about perfection or resolution, but can embrace ambiguity and the joy of exploration.