Vrouw met hoed 1875 - 1934

This is a pencil sketch of a woman with a hat made by Isaac Israels, and now hanging out at the Rijksmuseum. There’s something so vulnerable about a drawing. It’s just the artist, a pencil, and a piece of paper, trying to capture a likeness or a feeling. I imagine Israels quickly sketching, trying to capture the essence of this woman, maybe in a cafe or at the theatre. Look at the tentative, searching lines that build the shape of the hat – it’s almost as if he’s thinking aloud with his pencil. The marks are so light; you can almost feel his hand moving across the page. The whole drawing feels so immediate and intimate, like a fleeting moment frozen in time. I'm left wondering about the woman: what was she thinking? Where was she going? It's a drawing that invites you to slow down and imagine your own story. Israels and other artists, like Degas or Manet, were all investigating new ways of seeing and representing modern life, trading ideas and pushing the boundaries of art.