Twee staande figuren tegenover elkaar 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing with pencil, paper, and a clear vision. See how the figures emerge from the minimal gesture of the pencil? There’s so little information, yet a whole world is suggested. I’m wondering if the artist felt like a kind of choreographer, capturing a fleeting moment of connection between these two figures. I think I see them standing in silent exchange. There's a tenderness, a pause, a hesitation, sketched with quick looping lines. What are they about to say to one another? The lines are so spare and quick, there's a lovely rawness to it. It reminds me of the drawings of Picasso, but somehow feels more intimate. I think artists like Israels and Picasso were in an ongoing conversation, bouncing ideas off each other, each trying to capture something essential about the human condition. It is that quest that makes looking at art so enduring.