Zittende en staande figuren 1921 - 1922

Curator: Welcome. We're looking at Isaac Israels’ drawing, "Zittende en staande figuren," created between 1921 and 1922. It's a graphite on paper work and it's currently held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: My goodness, it's like peering into a very stylish ghost convention! It’s just the faintest, scribble of people – they are almost not there at all. Curator: Right. What intrigues me here is the artist's exploration of the female form within the context of early 20th-century modernism, a time when societal expectations of women were being challenged. It makes you consider questions about representation, agency, and the male gaze in artistic renderings of women. Editor: The modern women. Free! Also very very faint. But in all seriousness, you can feel the sketchiness, how quickly Israels must have captured these women. Makes you wonder, what was the occasion? Was this a salon? Did he simply enjoy women-watching in public spaces? What did they mean to him? Curator: The hurried lines do evoke a certain energy. Israels was part of a generation grappling with massive social shifts following the First World War. So it raises a crucial intersectional question of class here: who had the leisure, who had the luxury to lounge and "be watched"? What did it mean to be an observer and what power did that give you? Editor: And look, these figures— barely there—but each with its own story and identity, they all seem lost in thoughts… Makes you think we never quite escape ourselves no matter how freely we stand and sit. And a reminder for artists too, a suggestion of what it means to see in its purest form. An invitation perhaps for you and I too to capture these free women sitting! Curator: Indeed, an artwork as simple as this opens complex discussions, both for its time and for ours. I'm drawn to the interplay between what's visible and invisible here – it gives food for thought regarding societal perceptions and artistic interpretations. Editor: Definitely. Thanks for giving my fashionable ghosts more life. I need to go now - I hear them calling me to draw!