Siddende, nøgen, mandlig model 1907

Karl Isakson made this nude male model drawing with pencil on paper, and it's full of the kind of searching and finding that drawing is all about. The model is crouched down, his face in his hand, and Isakson isn't trying to hide the process, you can see every line. Look closely, and you'll see that his lines aren't about outlining, but about mass and volume. They give the impression of three dimensions on a flat surface. I love the way his marks are tentative and unsure, but also confident and bold. The hand holding the face is a tangle of lines, a real knot of scribbles, and it's all the more expressive for it. This reminds me of the work of Paula Modersohn-Becker, who also made very direct and honest paintings of the human figure. Like her, Isakson shows us how art is a conversation across time, and a way of seeing and thinking about the world.