Zittende figuren 1921 - 1922

Isaac Israels made this sketch of seated figures using ink, and what strikes me is the sheer speed of it all. The lines are so direct, so economical, as if he’s trying to capture a fleeting moment before it vanishes. Look at how he uses the ink, sometimes watered down to create these translucent washes, and other times laying it on thick to define a shadow. It's all about suggestion, leaving space for our eyes to fill in the blanks. That smudge of ink under the chair, for example, is so simple but it grounds the whole composition, giving weight to the figures above. Israels reminds me of Degas in his fascination with capturing the body in motion, though his touch feels lighter, more spontaneous. It's like he's saying, "Here’s a glimpse, a fragment," and trusting us to complete the picture. And in that incompleteness, there's a real sense of life, of something caught on the wing.