Twee staande figuren en een kind 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels dashed off this drawing of figures with what looks like a graphite stick. It's amazing to see how quickly he captured these forms. You can feel the artist circling and searching for the right lines to suggest these figures, with the quick, almost nervous, strokes that suggest an immediacy of vision. I wonder if Israels felt compelled to quickly capture a scene that was disappearing before his eyes. There's such energy in the marks, in the way he layers and reiterates, trying to find the essential form of a body, its posture, and its presence in space. The artist seems to be in dialogue with the great tradition of figuration in drawing and painting, but he also brings a decidedly modern sensibility to the task. There's a sense of improvisation, as if he were saying, "Let's see what happens if I push this line this way, or that way." I think that experimentation is what makes art alive.