Abklatsch van een krijttekening c. 1886 - 1934

This drawing by Isaac Israels is what he calls an ‘Abklatsch’ which is German for a transfer or a rubbing. So, you know, immediately, we’re in the realm of process. You can see the way the image sits on the page; these ghostly impressions hovering in the middle of the paper. It’s hard to tell exactly what it is, perhaps someone with a bag. But the marks themselves! Look how softly the chalk has been laid down, each tiny grain still visible like distant stars in the night sky. There's a kind of fragility to the whole thing, like it could disappear at any moment. The lightness of the touch, the way the forms almost dissolve into the ground, it's so delicate. I’m reminded of Cy Twombly, his scribbled, searching lines, always on the verge of becoming something, yet never quite resolving. It’s a conversation about seeing, about the fleeting nature of images, and the beauty of the half-formed.