Twee variétéartiesten op een podium 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this pencil drawing of two vaudeville artists on stage. Look at the confident marks, the varying pressure of the pencil on the paper. You can feel Israels sizing up the scene, trying to capture the performers and their dynamic in a few strokes. The sketch is so loose, so ephemeral, you can almost see the performers moving. He’s not trying to capture every detail, but rather the energy and essence of the performance. Imagine being Israels, quickly sketching in the dark, trying to keep up with the changing scene, and getting the movement just right. The hatching creates dark masses, a code for the scene to emerge, the figures on stage appear. It reminds me of Degas’ dancers, the way he captured fleeting moments of movement and light. Artists are always in conversation with one another, across time and space, building on each other’s ideas and pushing the boundaries of what art can be.