Isaac Israels Dutch, 1865-1934

Nieuwe Haagsche Courant, 23 January 1961
De Telegraaf, 3 February 1961
Trouw, January 1961, illustrated

Isaac Israels was raised in an inspiring artistic environment. He was the son of Jozef Israels, one of the founding fathers of the Hague School. In his father’s studio, a meeting place for artists, he got acquainted with a great number of painters. No wonder that his early work bears the imprint of the subdued art of the Hague School. After his move to Amsterdam in 1887, Isaac shifted his attention to modern, urban subjects, depicted in a more colourful and daring style. He soon became the leading spirit of so-called ‘Amsterdam Impressionism’. 

The fashion world was one of Isaac Israels’ favourite subjects. Already in 1900, he was granted permission to work inside the Amsterdam fashion house Hirsch on the Leidseplein. Through Hirsch, he was introduced to the French fashion houses Paquin and Decroll, where he painted the essayeuses, shopgirls and seamstresses during his ten years stay in Paris. The fascination for the world of fashion stayed with him throughout his entire career.

The present lot, which was rediscovered in a private collection only recently, is definitely one of the masterpieces in this genre. In his typical, energetic style and masterful brushwork the artist depicts the ladies at full length. Israels aimed at seizing the moment, at catching the mood of the momentary. ‘Israels depicts things fresh as a daisy, without second thoughts’, Dolf Welling writes in his book on the artist. ‘He was keen to capture life, to hold a moment that would never return. What struck him most in that moment was a human trait, a mood that his subject was able to communicate in an inscrutable way’. The beautifully rendered ladies are a great example of Israels’ virtuoso, mature impressionism, which earned him great fame.