Studies van een vrouw die schoonmaakt c. 1886 - 1934

Curator: Editor: Welcome to the Rijksmuseum. Here we have Isaac Israels' "Studies van een vrouw die schoonmaakt," a pencil and ink drawing on paper, created sometime between 1886 and 1934. I’m struck by the sheer number of poses captured. It really emphasizes movement, but in a quotidian, almost anonymous way. What’s your take on this piece? Curator: For me, the power of this piece lies in its depiction of labor. Israels gives us multiple views of a woman engaged in the act of cleaning. Note the repetition of buckets and scrubbing motions. It pulls back the curtain to reveal domestic labor as work, not just a condition. How does the material of the sketch itself, the quickly rendered lines, speak to the labor being represented? Editor: I see what you mean. It's not idealized at all; it's raw and immediate. Almost like the viewer is intruding upon a private moment. Are you suggesting Israels is making a commentary on the working class through his choice of subject matter? Curator: I think he's presenting the labour. The hasty sketches suggests the fast and repeated movement, the physical realities of working class life without sentimentality. Do you see the tension between the traditional fine art setting of a drawing and the humble subject it depicts? Editor: Absolutely. It's as if Israels is deliberately blurring the line between what's considered worthy of artistic representation and the everyday reality of many people. It almost feels like an early form of social realism, brought down to a very human scale. Curator: Exactly. He is valuing labor itself by documenting the material conditions of daily life and giving us insight to the lives of others. Israels directs our gaze towards the means of survival. How does it make you reconsider our interaction with labor? Editor: This was an interesting way to observe the artist's choices in presenting this figure! I will be pondering this work more. Curator: I hope you and others will think more critically about artistic representations and labor now!