Liggende model 1914 - 1915

Karl Isakson made this drawing on paper using what appears to be graphite. You know, I can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the page, sketching and re-sketching the curves of the model’s body. The lines are simple, but they carry so much information, don’t they? There is a softness to the shading that makes me want to reach out and touch the page. I wonder what Isakson was thinking as he drew this? Was he focused on capturing the light and shadow, or was he more interested in the emotional presence of the model? I bet he spent a lot of time just looking, really looking, at the subject, trying to understand their form and essence. It reminds me a little of Matisse's line drawings, you know? That same sense of capturing the essence of a form with just a few strokes. It’s like Isakson is in conversation with a whole history of artists who have tried to capture the human form.