Artieste op rolschaatsen 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this graphite drawing on paper, now at the Rijksmuseum, and it captures a figure gliding, or maybe struggling to stay upright, on roller skates. You can almost feel the scratch of the pencil on the page, right? I imagine Israels, sketchbook in hand, trying to capture the fleeting movement, the precarious balance of this roller skater. There’s a real sense of immediacy, a desire to record not just what he sees, but the feeling of the moment. The lines are tentative, searching, as if the artist is thinking through the drawing, allowing it to emerge through trial and error. It’s a quiet drawing, but it speaks to a broader artistic conversation about capturing modern life, the energy and dynamism of the everyday. I feel a kinship with Israels, that urge to document the world around us, to find beauty in the transient. We’re all just skating along, trying to capture the moment before it disappears.