Twee studies van een staande vrouw 1921 - 1922

This is a pencil sketch, "Twee studies van een staande vrouw," by Isaac Israels, and it’s currently hanging out at the Rijksmuseum. Look at how Israels lets the pencil wander, almost like the line is thinking out loud. The marks are so direct, so immediate, you can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the paper. There’s this beautiful hesitancy, like the artist is searching for the form, not quite sure where it's going. The face in the lower study is really interesting, it has this almost chaotic scribble that manages to convey volume. I feel like you can really see the influence of someone like Degas in this piece. But Israels brings a distinct Dutch sensibility to it, grounded and straightforward, without any fuss. It reminds us that art is a continuous dialogue, where artists borrow, transform, and push each other forward. It's never about having all the answers, but about embracing the questions and the uncertainties.