Schetsboek XLVI met 32 pagina's 1875 - 1934

Here is Isaac Israels' sketchbook XLVI, made sometime between 1865 and 1934 with thirty-two pages, currently held at the Rijksmuseum. The cover's a weathered landscape in itself, isn't it? I imagine Israels with this very sketchbook in hand, tucked under his arm, always ready. I feel him lugging it around, the corners wearing down, collecting marks and stains from the world—smudges of charcoal from a quick sketch in a dimly lit café, maybe a splash of coffee from a morning in a rush. See that little red mark? Could that be a drop of paint, a moment of creative urgency captured right there on the cover? And the handwriting! "XLVI" scrawled with a decisive hand, claiming its place in a series. I bet he filled these pages with fleeting impressions, a swirl of skirts, the glint of light on water, a quick portrait of a passerby. It’s like a portable laboratory, a place to experiment and record and dream. And you know, that’s what it's all about—these aren’t just sketches, they're little portals into the artist's process, into how he saw the world, how he thought and felt and made his mark.