Vrouw, op de rug gezien 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing of a woman’s back, probably in a sketchbook, sometime in his life. The lines are so incredibly minimal! But they map out a whole person, capturing a gesture with extreme economy. The drawing almost seems to appear from the paper. The image is less about a specific person, more about the act of seeing and capturing something fleeting. There’s a real emphasis on process here, which is not always the case. Sometimes artists want to hide all the evidence of their work, right? Like a magic trick, they don’t want you to know how it’s done. But here, Israels seems to say, “Hey, look at the possibilities of a simple line, the way it can evoke a whole world.” I think of Degas, who also drew dancers from life, capturing the in-between moments. It's art as an ongoing conversation and exchange. The ambiguity is key!