Staande man en vrouw, mogelijk achter een gordijn 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this sketch of a standing man and woman, possibly behind a curtain, with a crayon. There’s an immediacy in the cross-hatched marks Israels uses, which isn't about perfection, but about a kind of searching. Look at how the figures are formed with these scribbled lines. The texture created by the crayon feels almost sculptural, giving a real sense of form and weight to the figures. I’m really drawn to that bit of energetic line work around the top figure, which looks to me like a man standing. The way the lines extend beyond the form suggests movement, maybe even a bit of nervous energy. Israels reminds me of Daumier, in the way he captures the essence of a subject with such simple means. Both artists share a knack for distilling the human figure down to its most expressive elements. Art like this reminds us that it's okay for things to be a little rough around the edges, that the beauty often lies in the process itself.