Vrouw met hoed, op haar buik liggend 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels created this drawing of a woman with a hat, lying on her stomach, with what looks like pencil on paper. Looking at these lines, thin and tentative, I can imagine Israels, in his studio, maybe with the model in the same room. He's capturing not just the woman, but the angle, the way the hat sits, the shadow on her face. The marks are fugitive, floating, as if searching for a solid form. Israels is working out a puzzle right in front of us. It’s like he’s thinking, "How do I describe what I see with just a few strokes?" There's a vulnerability in the process, a kind of conversation between the artist, the model, and the paper. It's a gentle dance between observation and invention, and that’s what makes it so engaging. Each mark is like a breath, a pause, a new beginning. It reminds me that making art is often about the journey, not just the destination.