Man, in profiel c. 1915s - 1925s

Isaac Israels made this pencil drawing, Man in Profile, capturing a figure in repose. I love how the lines just tumble across the page, creating a sense of movement in the stillness. I imagine Israels quickly sketching in a cafe, capturing a fleeting moment with just a few strokes, and how the lines are so alive. What was he thinking as he made this drawing? Maybe he was just capturing the way the light fell on the man's face, or maybe he was trying to capture something deeper, like the man's state of mind. The beauty of drawing is that it allows for so much ambiguity and uncertainty. It's a conversation, a dance between the artist and the subject. And each artist draws inspiration from those who came before. We are all in conversation, you know? Each work builds on the ideas and techniques of the past. Painting is an act of translation, an attempt to communicate what words cannot fully express.