Abklatsch van de krijttekening op pagina 24 1875 - 1934

This is a chalk drawing by Isaac Israels, whose title translates to ‘Rubbing of the chalk drawing on page 24,’ and it’s held at the Rijksmuseum. I love a rubbing, it feels so ghostly, a record of a touch that is itself a whisper. There’s something so intimate about this sketch – you can almost feel Israels’ hand moving across the paper. The lines are tentative, searching, not quite resolving into definite shapes. It's so minimal, but you can see the way he layers the chalk, pressing harder in some areas, letting it drift off in others. Look at the circular form at the center. Is it a face? A flower? It doesn't really matter, because in its ambiguity, it becomes a space for our own projections. This piece makes me think of Cy Twombly, in that it elevates the fragment, the unfinished, and the process of artmaking to a place of beauty. It’s a reminder that art is not about answers, but about questions.