Studieblad met drie vrouwen 1875 - 1934

Curator: This is "Studieblad met drie vrouwen," or "Study Sheet with Three Women," attributed to Isaac Israels and created sometime between 1875 and 1934. It resides here at the Rijksmuseum. What leaps out at you when you see it? Editor: A kind of ephemeral quietude. They're just wisps of people, rendered in what looks like soft graphite on paper. Almost like capturing a fleeting thought more than a solid presence. You can feel the paper texture. Curator: Absolutely. It has that intimate feel of a page torn right from a sketchbook. The beauty lies in the immediacy, the raw energy of the artist capturing the essence of his subjects. Editor: And that repeated form invites process speculation, almost. What pencil did he use? Was it locally sourced? Did the rise of industrialized pencils enable a particular kind of sketching? It becomes this fascinating loop. Curator: Right, you could get completely lost down the production rabbit hole. For me though, it whispers more about capturing the feeling of these women. See how loosely their features are suggested? Yet, there’s a real sensitivity in their poses, especially in the dress of the woman on the bottom. Editor: Yes! Notice the dress's diagonal line and folds and curves. The artist certainly chose a very economical medium to convey their likeness, a quick way of transferring an impression to paper, like shorthand. Curator: The lines dance. He’s not aiming for photographic precision but rather trying to catch the life within. That sketch-like quality opens this piece up for projection, doesn’t it? We get to fill in the blanks with our own imaginations, which turns us, the viewers, into active participants in its completion. Editor: And doesn't it push boundaries on the traditionally gendered associations with making, drawing upon techniques often aligned with preparatory work or artisanal activities outside 'high' art spheres? It raises some interesting challenges to the usual art historical hierarchies. Curator: Exactly! And what seems on the surface to be a simple preliminary sketch opens the door into a deep exploration of identity, production and what we choose to elevate and remember. Editor: It makes you appreciate the artist’s vision as so entwined with those mundane objects in the studio around him, not some act of pure genius emerging from a void. Thanks, that gives me something new to consider about this artwork! Curator: My pleasure! Seeing art in such radically different yet illuminating ways is exactly what it is all about!