Revuedanseres c. 1915s - 1925s

Isaac Israels made this drawing, "Revuedanseres", with pencil on paper. Just looking at the gestural marks, I can imagine Israels watching the dancer, trying to capture her movements with the pencil. The lines feel spontaneous, like he’s trying to keep up with the performance. I can almost feel the energy in the room. Imagine Israels, focused, sketching rapidly, trying to capture the dancer’s pose and the flow of her costume. There’s a real sense of dynamism, like the dancer might leap off the page at any moment. The physicality of the drawing is really evident; you can see the pressure of the pencil, the speed of the strokes. It's almost sculptural, the way the lines build up, suggesting form and movement. It feels very immediate, like a direct expression of his experience. It reminds me of Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec, who were also drawn to these fleeting, energetic scenes of modern life. All of us artists are always looking at each other, across time, taking ideas and pushing them further. It’s an ongoing conversation. There’s no definitive reading, just a lot of possibilities.