Bukkend vrouwelijk naakt in een interieur 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing of a bending female nude in an interior, we don't know when and with what, but it looks like charcoal on paper. The real juice of this thing is the way the marks build up and pile on top of one another, this isn't a quick sketch, there's real process going on here! Look at the way the charcoal is layered to build up the shadows behind the figure, it’s like he’s carving the space out of darkness. Then notice how the figure is rendered with lighter, more delicate lines, giving it a sense of weightlessness and vulnerability. The pressure on the charcoal varies, giving us darker and lighter tones, softer and harder edges. The bending posture of the figure is echoed in the mark making itself – the heavy, grounded strokes contrasting with the lighter, more ephemeral lines, a bit like Degas, but dirtier! It speaks to the dynamism of the creative process, the constant push and pull between intention and accident, control and surrender. I love that tension.