Studie 1875 - 1934

This is a pencil sketch on paper by Isaac Israels and it looks to me like a study in pure process. The marks are very loose, gestural, and immediate, like he’s just trying to capture a fleeting impression. There’s a real sense of the hand moving across the paper, not really trying to describe anything in particular, but just exploring the possibilities of line and form. You can almost feel the rhythm of the artist’s hand, the pressure of the pencil on the paper, the scratchy texture. It reminds me a bit of Cy Twombly’s drawings, in the way that it embraces messiness and imperfection. But it’s also very much its own thing, a unique expression of Israels’ artistic sensibility. It's a reminder that art doesn't always have to be about making something perfect or beautiful. Sometimes, it can just be about the act of making itself.