Twee vrouwen en een man aan tafel c. 1915s - 1925s

Isaac Israels made this drawing, *Twee vrouwen en een man aan tafel*, with pencil on paper. You can see here Israels is less interested in a faithful rendering of a scene than the act of depicting itself. Look at the way the bodies are put together, almost like diagrams. The lines are tentative, searching. They remind me of Cy Twombly, in that sense, just without the drama. I love the confidence of that scribble of the man's suit and those big heavy shoes. He's packed so much information into a few brief strokes, the essence of the character seems to come alive on the page. The women are a little more vague, more like props in the man's narrative. It’s as if the artist is saying, "Here's a moment, a feeling, but don't expect me to explain it all." This is an artist who doesn’t want to overstate his case, but to open up a space for our own interpretations.