Zittende en staande figuren, mogelijk artiesten op het toneel 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this pencil drawing, ‘Zittende en staande figuren, mogelijk artiesten op het toneel’, on paper with what seems like lightning speed. Just look at the way he renders these figures, with such immediacy. You can almost see the graphite dust lifting off the page. Israels is working fast, trying to capture the fleeting poses of the figures. It's as if he is trying to capture the ephemeral nature of performance itself. Israels seems to be asking, How do you preserve something that is inherently transient? It is such a contrast to the more laboured and studied history paintings of his academic contemporaries. But, like them, Israels must have been moved by the magic of the theatre. It reminds me of Degas's pastels of dancers. Here, you feel that you're in the presence of a modern sensibility. This little sketch is part of an ongoing, centuries-long exchange between artists. Each one is responding to the world around them and to one another.