Man in jacquet, mogelijk op het toneel c. 1915s - 1925s

This is a quick sketch of a man in a jacket by Isaac Israels, probably made with graphite on paper. The lines are all energy, aren’t they? Israels really went at it, and you can see the immediacy of the moment. I love the way the lines coalesce into a figure, the jacket suggested with just a few strokes. It’s like he’s capturing a fleeting impression, something seen out of the corner of his eye. I wonder if he was in a theater box, sketching during a performance, or maybe backstage? You can almost hear the music and chatter around him as he quickly jots down what he sees. It reminds me of Degas and his ballet dancers, that same sense of capturing movement and light. It’s so casual and effortless, but it really speaks to the tradition of artists inspiring each other across time. It’s a conversation that never really ends, and it shows how painting is like an embodied expression, always a bit ambiguous.