Danseres op het toneel 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing, Danseres op het toneel, with a graphite pencil on paper. The lines are so faint, it's like he's just whispering the image into existence. I love to imagine what it might have been like to be Israels in that moment, trying to capture the dancer's ephemeral movements. It is as if he is sketching a memory. The dancer is kind of an awkward scribble, but you can see the gesture of performance. The lines are simple, but they convey a sense of energy and fleeting beauty. It reminds me of Degas’ drawings of ballerinas, but there's something rawer, more immediate about Israels’s approach. Artists are always looking at each other's works, borrowing, stealing, riffing off ideas! I like to think of painting as a conversation across time. This work has multiple interpretations that depend on the viewer.