Ezelrijdende vrouw op het strand 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this sketch of a woman riding a donkey on the beach with pencil on paper. The immediacy of the gesture is what grabs me here; it’s all about process. You can see the artist working out the relationships between the figures, the donkey and rider fused together. The lines are quick, scratchy, and searching. Look at the way Israels describes the donkey’s legs with these repeated marks, building up the form with a kind of shorthand. It’s not about perfect representation, but about capturing a feeling of movement and light. See how the repeated marks creates a sense of energy? The woman’s figure is more resolved, but still retains that same sense of immediacy. This drawing reminds me a bit of Daumier, with its focus on everyday life and its loose, expressive line. Both artists share a knack for finding beauty in the mundane and capturing it with honesty and wit. It’s not about fixed meanings, but about opening up a space for interpretation and imagination.