Portret van een onbekende vrouw c. 1890 - 1920

Isaac Israels made this portrait of an unknown woman with what looks like pencil, a medium that really lays bare the artist’s process. You can see every adjustment, every errant mark, all the thinking made visible on the page. Look closely at the way Israels renders the woman’s face. It’s almost like he’s feeling his way around her features, the lines tentative and searching. The shading is soft, smudged in places, giving her an almost dreamlike quality. Notice how the lines of her hair have been worked over and over again. It gives the portrait a real sense of movement, as if she’s just tossed her head. Israels’ work reminds me a little of Degas, that same fascination with capturing fleeting moments and a willingness to leave the process visible. It's this openness that makes the work so engaging. Instead of presenting us with a finished product, he invites us into the act of creation itself.