Vrouw met kind op schoot 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing of a woman with a child on her lap, probably sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. You can see how Israels is working through the image, trying to find the right marks. The charcoal feels immediate, like a snapshot. The lines are searching, layered on top of each other. Look at the way the face of the child is scribbled in, it's like he's trying to capture a fleeting expression. There’s a real sense of intimacy. I imagine Israels rapidly sketching while trying not to disturb the sitters, trying to get the feeling down as fast as possible. This sketch reminds me of work by Käthe Kollwitz, who also had an interest in depicting mothers and children and a similar sense of immediacy in her drawings and prints. It feels like a conversation between artists across time, both grappling with similar themes and finding ways to express them through their own unique processes.