Zelfportret van Isaac Israels, rokend c. 1886 - 1934

Curator: The first thing that strikes me about this drawing is the artist’s gaze. It's direct, challenging, and yet also somehow vulnerable. What’s your initial impression? Editor: Definitely moody. The harsh, smudgy graphite and blurred background lend it a raw, unfiltered feel. There's a casualness too, from his cap to the cigarette dangling from his lips, a rebellious attitude I love! Curator: This graphite drawing is a self-portrait by Isaac Israels, created sometime between 1886 and 1934. It currently resides here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Israels often depicted modern urban life, focusing on themes of leisure, fashion, and everyday moments, themes which align with his Realist style. Was this drawing created in the same vein? Is he positioned anywhere, and, most importantly, what does his attire express about his place within those milieus? Curator: It's hard to say definitively in a sketch like this, isn't it? His clothing, suggested with quick strokes, reads more like a hint than a precise record. As for the setting, look closer, and you may find outlines for figures on horseback! To me, this smudgy sketch evokes the gritty vitality of a bustling urban setting in its fleeting brushstrokes of passersby. It feels like a moment snatched from a larger, vibrant reality. Editor: This self-portrait highlights the power of self-representation in a time where artistic identity was closely linked to social and cultural norms. He’s aware, surely, of how he’s projecting his artistic self! Curator: Indeed! And there's something incredibly human about this seemingly simple sketch. Perhaps because it shows us the artist, unfiltered. Editor: I find this work an exercise in breaking boundaries and asserting identity. I am certain this artist must have known he was portraying a man conscious of his individuality! Curator: And that is perhaps why this drawing is so timeless: it holds in graphite a rebellious individualism, still so relevant today! Editor: Yes, you can feel that pulse of individual conviction through the marks themselves. Wonderful!