Studie 1875 - 1934

This "Studie" was made by Isaac Israels, we don't know exactly when, and looking at it, it feels like it's all about the touch. It's as if he was trying to find the subject through the charcoal dust, a process of emergence rather than imposing a preconceived image. The piece is all about texture. Look closely, you can see the paper grain coming through the soft layers of charcoal. The color palette is almost non-existent, a whisper of grays, blacks, and whites. There's this one darker line towards the bottom, it's like a hesitant stroke, unsure of its path, but it's crucial, giving the piece a grounding point, while the rest floats in a haze. It reminds me a bit of Cy Twombly's drawings, that same sense of searching, of letting the hand lead the eye, blurring the boundaries between representation and abstraction. It's all about the journey, the exploration, the endless possibilities within a simple mark.