Vrouwenhoofd 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing, Vrouwenhoofd, with graphite on paper. I love a drawing like this; you can see how Israels is thinking. Look at how the figure is coming into being on the page. It’s all there in those marks. It’s like he is feeling his way around the subject. The pressure of the graphite is lighter in some areas, giving a sense of depth. The hair is a thick mass of dark scribbles against the white of the paper. There are very few lines to describe the rest of the body, but it feels complete. It has something of the expressive brevity of a Matisse line drawing, economical but generous, somehow. This kind of drawing is so intimate. It makes you wonder, what was he thinking?