Staande vrouw, over een tafel gebogen 1875 - 1934

This is a quick pencil sketch of a woman leaning over a table, made by Isaac Israels. Look at how Israels approaches the drawing, he's letting the line do all the work. The pressure of the pencil on the paper is light, but there’s a real confidence in each mark. See the woman's face? How the lines loop around to suggest the volume of her hair? And the way the table is described with just a few, quick strokes? The whole thing feels so immediate, like we're catching a glimpse of a private moment. It reminds me of Degas, but with a looser, more improvisational feel. It's not about perfection, it's about capturing the essence of a moment, the gesture of a body in space. It’s this kind of openness, this willingness to let go of control, that makes a drawing truly sing. It shows us how art embraces ambiguity.