Man op een stoel c. 1915s - 1925s

Isaac Israels made this drawing, Man on a Chair, with a pencil, and what I love about a drawing like this is how immediate it feels, like it's capturing a moment. The lines are so spare, almost like a shorthand, but they manage to convey the weight and presence of a figure slumped in a chair. Look at the way he suggests the folds of the clothing with just a few quick strokes, or how the face is rendered with minimal detail, yet you still get a sense of the person's expression. The texture of the paper is important too. It feels like a page torn from a sketchbook, adding to that sense of intimacy, like we're getting a glimpse into the artist's private world. It reminds me a little of Degas and his sketches of dancers, and the beauty of these kinds of works is that they leave so much open to interpretation. There's no one right way to see it, and that's what makes art so exciting to me.