Stoel 1875 - 1934

Here's a tender line drawing of a chair by Isaac Israels, likely made with graphite pencil on paper. Just look at the way the chair emerges from the page; it feels provisional, open. I can imagine Israels in front of this chair, circling around it, trying to capture its essence with just a few lines. The texture of the graphite creates subtle gradations of tone that give the chair its form, its volume. See how he builds up darker tones in the shadow beneath the armrest. There's something so intimate about the scale of the drawing too, like it was made in a private moment of observation. Drawings like this remind me that painting, and drawing, is an act of inquiry. It’s a way of seeing and understanding the world, one line, one mark, at a time. We’re all just trying to figure things out, and artists show us how to look, think, and feel our way through it.