Twee vrouwen tegenover elkaar 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this sketch of two women facing one another. It’s an artwork that invites us to peer into the artist's intimate world. You know, looking at those thin, tentative lines, I wonder what it was like to be Israels, quickly capturing a fleeting moment. What did the women mean to him? Were they friends, sisters, or strangers? Was he trying to catch the light, the atmosphere of the room, the intimacy of the scene? The understated marks remind me of other artists who've used the sketch as a way to reflect on intimacy, like Paula Modersohn-Becker. Israels is definitely part of this extended family of image-makers. We can never really know for sure what the artist was thinking. But that's the beauty of art, right? It's like a conversation that stretches across time, where one artist answers another, where we, as viewers, become part of the discussion.