Ezel c. 1890 - 1920

Isaac Israels made this drawing of a donkey, Ezel, with charcoal and chalk. Look at the surface and the way the quick, expressive strokes capture the animal’s form and essence. You can almost feel the artist standing there, rapidly sketching, trying to grasp the animal's weight and texture, the way the light hits its body. Maybe he was thinking about movement, about how to capture the essence of something alive with just a few lines. The layering of the strokes, the smudges, and the erasures, tell a story of observation and correction. The donkey is not presented in perfect detail, but rather with an immediacy that feels raw and authentic. It reminds me of other artists like Daumier who were interested in capturing working-class subjects. There is a kind of exchange that happens when you spend time looking at Israels' work. He invites us to share in his experience of seeing and feeling.