Zittende man met pet 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing of a man with a cap using what looks like charcoal, though it could be graphite – sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. You can see the marks, how they build up to create form, as if Israels was thinking through the subject in front of him. There's a looseness to the hatching that gives the impression of fleeting observation. Notice the denseness of the marks around the figure's clothing and cap, where he seems to have lingered, and the relative sparseness elsewhere. Look closely at the way the cap is rendered – a few bold strokes give it volume and shape. The texture of the paper comes through, too, becoming part of the drawing itself. It’s like a snapshot, a glimpse of everyday life. Israels reminds me of Degas, who also had this knack for capturing the informal, unposed moments. And like Degas, Israels seems less interested in perfect representation and more interested in the act of seeing itself. It’s this feeling of being present, of encountering something real, that I find so appealing.