Stående kvindelig model 1904 - 1907

Karl Isakson made this drawing of a standing female model sometime between the late 19th and early 20th century. Look at the way the pencil hesitates and then confidently reasserts the line. You can almost feel Isakson’s hand moving across the page, searching for the right curve, the right angle. I can imagine him squinting at the model, head cocked to one side, trying to capture the essence of her form with these simple marks. What was she thinking as she posed? Was she bored, or was she also lost in the act of creation? There’s a vulnerability in the sketchiness of the lines, a sense of impermanence that resonates with the fleeting nature of life itself. Isakson has a keen eye for the human form, reminiscent of artists like Rodin and early Matisse, but filtered through his own unique sensibility. His mark-making feels so alive, and so, so human.