Lopende figuren en een vrouwenhoofd c. 1886 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this sketch, "Lopende figuren en een vrouwenhoofd", with pencil, capturing figures in motion. It's all about process, the kind of thinking-through-drawing that I really dig. The texture of the paper peeks through the graphite lines, creating a subtle, almost ghostly effect. The figures aren't fully formed, more like suggestions of bodies caught mid-stride. Look at the woman's head, how it’s tilted, almost as if she's been interrupted mid-thought. The sketch is raw and immediate, revealing Israels’s hand and the speed of his observations. It's like he's saying, "Here's the essence, the bare minimum needed to convey movement and emotion." You can see echoes of Degas in the subject matter, but Israels has a lighter, more whimsical touch. It reminds us that art is a conversation, artists riffing off each other, finding their own voice through the echoes of the past.