Artieste in een circus 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing, “Artieste in een circus”, with a soft material like charcoal, maybe? There’s such a sensitivity to it. You know, the artist isn’t pressing hard; it’s more like coaxing an image out of the paper, line by line. I wonder if the artist knew the sitter. There’s something so intimate in the way he’s captured her gaze, a kind of gentle curiosity. I bet Israels was really in the moment while he was drawing this, responding to each line as it appeared. It’s like a conversation between the artist and the paper, each mark suggesting the next. The quick hatching, the way he’s built up the shadows around her face—it’s like he’s trying to find her, not just represent her. The way that the lines are drawn are quite abstract – they don't tell you everything - so your eyes have to fill in the blanks. It’s like Israels is saying, "Here, I’ll show you how I see the world, not just what the world looks like.”