Orkest in een theater c. 1930 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing, Orkest in een theater, with graphite. Look at this flurry of marks! I imagine Israels sitting in the theater, quickly trying to capture the scene before him. He is so in the moment, letting his hand move freely across the page as he follows the musicians' gestures, the architecture of the stage, the curve of the instruments. I sympathize with him, trying to distill a complex and dynamic scene into a few simple marks. The energy of the performance is so alive in the scribbled lines. The varying densities of the graphite create a feeling of depth and shadow, like a chiaroscuro painting. This drawing reminds me that art-making is a form of embodied expression, a conversation across time, and across artists. I feel inspired to go make something myself!