Staande figuur, op de rug gezien c. 1915s - 1925s

Isaac Israels made this drawing, Staande figuur, op de rug gezien, with a pencil on paper. It’s a fascinating thing, drawing, because it's so immediate and you get the sense that the artist is trying to capture something quickly. I can see it as a kind of thinking, a process of feeling something out. Look at the way the shading has been applied with these very direct and economical lines. It feels almost like a map, charting a territory that is the human form. The texture of the paper becomes a part of the drawing. The blank space around the figure is as important as the figure itself, creating a quietness. It reminds me of work by Degas, where the figure is caught in a fleeting moment, observed rather than posed. Ultimately, this sketch celebrates the transient and ever-changing nature of experience. Art, for me, is all about embracing that ambiguity.