Vrouwen in een kleedkamer c. 1915s - 1925s

Isaac Israels created this drawing, Vrouwen in een kleedkamer, using pencil on paper. It's like peeking into a backstage area, a flurry of lines capturing the fleeting moments of women in a dressing room, and I love this sense of process. The textures in this drawing are all about the varying pressure of the pencil. Some lines are dark and defined, others are light and almost disappearing. Look at how Israels uses these quick, scribbled marks to suggest movement and form. See those darker smudges? They give weight to the figures, while the lighter areas feel like glimpses, like you’re trying to catch something out of the corner of your eye. It feels provisional. Israels reminds me a bit of Degas, capturing those intimate, informal moments. But while Degas often refined his observations, Israels leaves us with this raw, immediate sketch, a beautiful testament to the energy of the moment. It feels like a snapshot, a fleeting glance that celebrates the beauty of impermanence.