Staande vrouw met uitgestoken handen, in profiel 1875 - 1934

Here we have Isaac Israels' 'Standing Woman with Hands Outstretched, in Profile', a quick sketch done with pencil on paper. The lines are so simple, almost childlike, but they capture a whole mood. You can almost feel the breeze around her, or maybe she's just about to start dancing. Look at how the lines barely touch, leaving gaps that make the figure feel light and airy. It’s like Israels is saying, "Here's the essence, fill in the rest yourself." There’s something so generous about this approach, inviting us into the process of seeing. The shadow, so casually rendered, anchors her in space, a gentle reminder of gravity. Israels’s contemporary, Toulouse Lautrec, was also interested in rendering figures in such a way. In both artists’ hands, the unfinished quality is not a flaw but a feature, a way to keep the work alive and open to possibility.