Vrouw, in profiel 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing, Vrouw, in profiel, with a pencil, and I bet he was sitting close to the subject when he did. There is such an immediacy to the way he captured the woman, a portrait that is not really a portrait, as it captures a quiet moment. I can imagine Israels wanting to capture a quiet moment of rest, sketching quickly to capture her stillness, lying as she is on the paper in a few strokes. He makes great use of negative space, and it's wonderful to consider how Israels’ work speaks to that of other artists, both past and present, who grapple with similar questions of line, form, and representation. Artists are always in conversation, their ideas bouncing off one another across time. It's an ongoing process, and maybe that's what's so exciting about art: there's no single answer, only endless possibilities.