Vrouw met een arm achter haar hoofd c. 1915s - 1925s

Isaac Israels made this drawing of a woman with a pencil on paper, and now it lives at the Rijksmuseum. The marks are so casual and fleeting, like the artist just quickly caught this woman in a moment of repose, maybe even sleep. Look closely, and you'll notice how the lines vary in pressure, some fading almost to nothing, others boldly defining the shape of her face. It’s so sparse! It feels like Israels is thinking aloud with his pencil, not trying to capture every detail, but figuring out the essence of the form. The texture of the paper is also part of the picture; it’s not trying to hide itself! There’s something so immediate and intimate about a drawing like this. It reminds me of Degas's quick sketches, where you can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the page. It's not about perfection; it's about the process, the searching, the feeling. Art is about seeing, not just knowing, and this drawing is a perfect example of that.