Vrouw met hoed, in profiel 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing of a woman with a hat, we don’t know exactly when, using charcoal on paper. Isn’t it cool how Israels uses these wispy lines to suggest the woman’s form? It's like he’s thinking out loud with the charcoal, letting us see his process. Look at the hat; it’s just a scribble of dark marks, but somehow, it totally reads as a big, fancy hat. And then there's the face, almost disappearing into the background, but with just enough line to give her a profile. I think of other artists like Degas, who also captured these fleeting moments of modern life with a similar sense of immediacy. There’s something so honest and vulnerable about drawings like this, where the artist isn’t trying to hide their tracks, but instead invites us to join in the messy, beautiful act of seeing. It's like Israels is reminding us that art isn't about perfection, but about the ongoing, messy, and beautiful conversation we have with the world around us.