Portret van een onbekende vrouw c. 1890 - 1920

Isaac Israels sketched this unknown woman at an unknown time, and the rapid, searching charcoal lines give us a sense of the fleeting moment of observation, the artist’s eye flitting back and forth across the model’s face. I can imagine him there, circling around her features, trying to pin down her expression. There’s a generosity in the softness of the shading that almost feels like a caress. Look at the dark marks around her eyes, a flurry of strokes, as if trying to capture some elusive thought. Did they speak to each other at all? I wonder, what does it mean to draw someone you don’t know? This feels like an intimate gesture, as though Israels wants to know everything, even though she remains a stranger. It reminds me of other sketches by artists like Degas, who were also interested in capturing everyday moments, the immediacy of life. It shows how artists are always in dialogue.