Stående model, set bagfra 1914 - 1915

Karl Isakson made this drawing of a standing model, seen from the back, on paper with pencil. Look at the way Isakson has built up the figure with such simple, direct lines. It’s like he’s feeling his way around the form, letting the lines suggest the curves and volumes of the body. You can almost sense the pressure of the pencil on the page, how he’s varying the weight of the line to give a sense of depth and shadow. There’s a beautiful ambiguity in the drawing, a kind of openness that invites you to complete the image in your own mind. That arm, for instance, just floating there, indicated by a few strokes of the pencil. It's not a perfectly rendered arm, it's a suggestion of an arm. It reminds me a little of Matisse, the way he could evoke so much with so little. It makes you realize that drawing is really about seeing and feeling, not just about copying what's in front of you.