Bezoekers bij een concert 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing, Visitors at a Concert, with pen and brush in ink. Can you see the quick, scribbled marks, like musical notes on a page? I can imagine Israels in the crowd, quickly trying to capture the essence of a fleeting moment. What I love about this piece is that it feels so immediate, raw. It's not about perfection, it's about trying to catch the feeling of being there. What might the music have sounded like? What were the other people thinking? I get a real sense of being a voyeur, a fly on the wall. Israels was part of a generation of artists who were interested in modern life, urban scenes, and capturing everyday moments. I think he’s in conversation with other painters like Degas who similarly found ways of capturing the immediacy of modern life. It's like they are all bouncing ideas off each other, across time, across countries. And that’s what painting is, right? A continuous conversation.