Figuurstudies 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made these Figuurstudies with pencil on paper. The grey tonality of the marks feels almost ghostly, as though we’re looking at figures emerging from nothingness. The artist has built up the image, feeling his way through the scene by a process of searching and finding, adding detail to the areas that are most important to him. I can almost feel Israels making these marks! With that line quality, he must have been standing up and moving around. Did he take a step back and squint at the picture, assessing what he had done, and what he might need to do next? The drawing captures something of the fleeting and temporary, like a glimpse of dancers backstage. Look at the repeated marks that define the figure's leg, and the scratchy lines that make up the details of the other figure. These details show us the hand of the artist, and how his marks give rise to the scene before us.