Drie paarden en een koetsier 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this sketch of three horses and a coach driver with graphite on paper. The hurried marks, smudges, and ghostly echo of the horses really speak to me about the energy of artmaking, its process. The texture of the paper plays a big part. You can see all these little fibers and flecks, a tactile reminder that this image exists in the real world, not just as a picture in our minds. Israels allows the medium to breathe, the graphite is at times dense and at others so light you can barely see it. Notice the confident dark lines that define the coach driver's form, and then how they give way to lighter, fainter lines that suggest the movement and form of the horses. It reminds me a little of Daumier's drawings, that sense of capturing fleeting moments with incredible skill, but I love how Israels leaves everything open, inviting us to complete the picture ourselves. Ultimately, I think art should be about questions, not answers.