Staande figuur in kostuum, mogelijk een variétéartiest c. 1915s - 1925s

Editor: Here we have Isaac Israels' pencil drawing, "Standing Figure in Costume, Possibly a Variety Artist," from the 1915s-1925s. It's a quick sketch, almost ephemeral. I'm curious, what strikes you about this piece? Curator: It’s all about the rapid deployment of pencil on paper, isn’t it? The immediacy, the raw labor of sketching a figure from life—probably in the fleeting moment between acts, a backstage glimpse of labor itself. Notice how the costume isn't really rendered; it's merely suggested. This speaks volumes about the conditions of production: it was more about documenting the transient existence of a performer and less about the illusion they provide to an audience. Editor: So, you’re seeing this less as a portrait of someone and more as an artifact of artistic practice? Curator: Precisely. Think about the economy of gestures—the quick lines, the minimal shading. Israels wasn't interested in creating a perfect likeness; he was capturing a moment in time, documenting a worker, an entertainer, likely without their explicit consent or knowledge. In essence, this artwork itself becomes a record of labor relations, the artist "capturing" his subject who's a performer of sorts already, caught backstage in labour for capital. It questions traditional boundaries and distinctions such as high art and low entertainment as well as class structure of Dutch society at the time. How would the composition be altered, would you think, were Israels to take such position as its central concern? Editor: That makes me see it in a completely different light. I was focusing on the aesthetic of the sketch, the Impressionist style, but now I appreciate how much it reflects the social dynamics of the time. Curator: It highlights the artistic labour alongside other forms of work – one documenting or representing, and the other performing and representing in exchange of capital in a social milieu! The artist sketches rapidly, the performer dances rapidly… Editor: I guess I was too focused on the figure and not the act of figuration itself. Thank you!