Staande vrouw met hoed en cape, in profiel 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this pencil drawing of a standing woman with a hat and cape, and what strikes me is the energy of the line, how he seemed to capture a fleeting impression. I’m imagining Israels sketching quickly, trying to capture the essence of her form with just a few strokes. You know, it’s like that feeling when you’re trying to remember a dream, and you grab at these ephemeral details before they vanish? The lines are so light and open, almost like a ghost of a figure, and yet, there’s enough there to suggest a real person, a sense of weight and presence. That dark, scribbled area, defining the hat and cape, gives the figure a certain groundedness and drama. I think about other artists who work with such economy of means, like Cy Twombly, where the act of drawing is all about gesture and suggestion. It’s as if they're saying, "Here’s a starting point, now you fill in the rest." It’s all one big conversation, isn’t it?