Schetsboek IV met 27 bladen met studies van vrouwelijk naakt 1875 - 1934

This sketchbook of female nudes was made by Isaac Israels at an unknown date, it's held at the Rijksmuseum. I love how a sketchbook is such an intimate object, a place where an artist can just play and work things out. We're not looking at a finished product here, but something much more immediate. The cover is a deep, aged red, worn at the edges, you can almost feel the texture of the fabric and the slightly rough paper underneath. It has a depth and richness to it, like dried blood. Looking at the cover, I get a sense of Israels' whole approach. He's not precious, he's just getting to work. It reminds me of Degas and his obsessive drawings of dancers, capturing movement and form, not aiming for perfection, but striving for something living and breathing. Artmaking as a process, an exploration, that’s what it’s all about.