Drie mannen en een vrouw, mogelijk in een café 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this sketch of three men and a woman, possibly in a café, using graphite on paper. It’s the kind of drawing that feels like a quick thought, a fleeting impression jotted down. Look at how Israels uses these light, almost tentative lines to suggest form and space. You can almost feel the graphite gliding across the page, capturing a sense of movement and atmosphere. The beauty of a sketch like this lies in its incompleteness. It’s not about perfect representation, but about capturing the essence of a moment. The way Israels suggests the figures with just a few strokes, leaving so much to our imagination. Notice the darker shading around the figures on the right, adding depth and drama. It reminds me of the kind of sketches you see by Degas, capturing a similar candid view of modern life, but with a distinctive light touch. And this kind of image is so open to possibility; like a half-remembered dream, it invites us to fill in the gaps and create our own story.