Ablatsch van de krijttekening op blad 18A 1875 - 1934

Editor: So, this is "Ablatsch van de krijttekening op blad 18A" by Isaac Israels, created sometime between 1875 and 1934. It’s a pencil and graphite drawing on paper, housed at the Rijksmuseum. Honestly, it mostly looks like smudges to me, kind of ghostly and indistinct. What do you make of it? Curator: Ah, yes! It does resemble ghostly marks, doesn't it? You have a point. Think of it as capturing a fleeting moment, the artistic residue. Perhaps these smudges weren’t intended as a final piece but an accidental imprint during the artistic process— a peek into Israels's studio practice? The impressionists often celebrated the momentary. Could this capture the ephemeral, maybe a feeling rather than a subject? Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way. So, the “mistake” becomes the art itself? Is it fair to call something an artwork if it wasn’t intended? Curator: Well, now, isn't that the philosophical rabbit hole of our age? Think of it less as a mistake, and more of… an echo. Art doesn’t have to scream; sometimes, it whispers, revealing the unexpected beauty in what’s left behind. Don't you think there's a certain vulnerability and intimacy in something so seemingly unresolved? Editor: I suppose… like stumbling upon a secret. Now I see it’s less empty and more… suggestive. Maybe that smudge over there is almost like the memory of a face. Curator: Precisely! It's a drawing pregnant with possibilities, sparking a dialogue with our own perceptions. So, what has changed now about what you thought initially? Editor: It's gone from seeming like nothing to everything. I appreciate the "whisper", the vulnerability you're referring to. Curator: Isn't it extraordinary how perspective shapes art?