Mantel en een liggend vrouwelijk naakt c. 1915s - 1925s

Isaac Israels made this drawing, Mantel en een liggend vrouwelijk naakt, with pencil on paper, and right away you notice the artist feeling their way around the subject. It is all about process, where the artist leaves their working visible. Look closely and you’ll notice the surface is almost entirely exposed, with just the faintest whisper of marks suggesting a figure reclining. The lines are economic, but not hesitant; they’re confident in their search for form. The coat to the side is like a geometric echo of the body, angular versus curvilinear. The physicality of the medium is front and center, which gives the drawing a raw, immediate feel. I keep coming back to the lines of the face, where the barest marks form a full expression, a kind of shorthand of emotion. There's something reminiscent of Matisse in the casualness of the line, but also something uniquely Israels, maybe it's the Dutch light, or lack thereof. Art's an ongoing conversation, right? A beautiful, ambiguous exchange across time.