Vrouwenhoofd met hoed c. 1886 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this drawing, Vrouwenhoofd met hoed, at an unknown date with what seems to be graphite on paper, and it’s currently held at the Rijksmuseum. Looking at this sketch is like glimpsing a thought in progress. Israels uses these quick, searching lines, a kind of shorthand that captures the essence of his subject, which is a woman wearing a hat. The whole thing feels provisional, like he’s working something out, trying to pin down a feeling or an impression more than a literal likeness. I’m really drawn to the way he suggests form with these minimal marks. Take the hat, for instance. It’s this flurry of scribbled lines, but somehow, they convey the volume, the texture, the very idea of a hat. There’s something so immediate and intimate about this kind of mark-making. It reminds me a bit of Daumier, who also had this incredible ability to capture the spirit of a person with just a few strokes of his pen. This drawing is a reminder that art isn’t just about finished products, it's about the process, the searching, the questioning, and the conversation that artists have with each other across time.