Vrouw, in profiel 1875 - 1934

This drawing by Isaac Israels in the Rijksmuseum is just a few dark lines on paper, but it captures so much. It’s like a little secret whispered between the artist and the page. The thing that grabs me is the way Israels uses line, so sparse, so economical. Look at how he defines the woman’s form, the angle of her face, the fall of her clothing, with just a few flicks of the wrist. Each mark feels so intuitive, so immediate, like he’s trying to capture not just what she looks like, but how she feels to him. The marks are more than just descriptive; they’re expressive. It reminds me of other artists like Degas. There’s a similar sense of capturing movement and fleeting moments, of finding beauty in the everyday. What Israels achieves here, with the barest of means, speaks to the power of suggestion, of allowing the viewer to fill in the gaps, to complete the picture in their own mind. It’s not about perfection; it’s about capturing a feeling, a moment, a breath.