Voorstelling van een pianist 1875 - 1934

Curator: This pencil drawing at the Rijksmuseum is by Isaac Israels. Its title is "Voorstelling van een pianist," or "Representation of a pianist." It was created sometime between 1875 and 1934. Editor: My first thought is that it has a sense of incompleteness, or rather, it feels like the bare bones of an idea rapidly sketched out. Curator: That rawness is telling, especially when we consider the social position of artists at the turn of the century. Israels's choice of subject here and the medium itself is deliberately immediate, shying away from the constraints of more traditional modes of representation linked to dominant academic discourses. It's almost a protest. Editor: Perhaps. I'm struck by how much the sketch emphasizes the materiality of the piano, the dense concentration of graphite that forms its lid compared to the lighter treatment of the pianist. You can almost feel the pressure of the artist’s hand and his marks across the paper, really highlighting the production of the sketch itself. Curator: Absolutely. Israels had a real fascination with the performance of identity, and here the concert hall becomes a space where class and gender intersect. Think about who typically played piano in that era, especially in a public venue. Who had access? Who was excluded? Editor: What gets left out interests me too: The implied labor of creating the instrument. Did Israels ever consider the hands that crafted this piano, those workers' means and relationship to such work, I wonder. We see only a narrow glimpse into an artistic setting. Curator: Good point. It raises a broader discussion about the depiction of labor and who typically gets to be seen in art history. This little sketch becomes a window into the much larger social forces at play, and those absences speak volumes. Editor: Exactly. This quick sketch reveals complexities layered within, that demand closer examination of production itself and broader social implication, just like our quick conversation here. Curator: Precisely, art, life, production, perception, all entwined like lines of Israels' drawing, hinting, implying so much more.