Isaac Lazarus Israëls (3 February 1865 – 7 October 1934) was a Dutch painter associated with the

Amsterdam Impressionism Amsterdam Impressionism was an art movement in late 19th-century Holland. It is associated especially with George Hendrik Breitner and is also known as the ''School of Allebé''. The innovative ideas about painting of the French Impressionists w ...

movement.

Biography

The son of

Jozef Israëls Jozef Israëls (27 January 1824 – 12 August 1911) was a Dutch painter. He was a leading member of the group of landscape painters referred to as the Hague School and, during his lifetime, "the most respected Dutch artist of the second half o ...

, one of the most respected painters of the

Hague School The Hague School is a group of artists who lived and worked in The Hague between 1860 and 1890. Their work was heavily influenced by the realist painters of the French Barbizon school. The painters of the Hague school generally made use of relati ...

, and Aleida Schaap, Isaac Israëls displayed precocious artistic talent from an early age. Between 1880 and 1882 he studied at the

Royal Academy of Art, The Hague The Royal Academy of Art (KABK, nl, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten) is an art and design academy in The Hague. Succeeding the ''Haagsche Teeken-Academie'' (part of the Confrerie Pictura), the academy was founded on 29 September 1682, m ...

, where he met

George Hendrik Breitner George Hendrik Breitner (12 September 1857 – 5 June 1923) was a Dutch painter and photographer. An important figure in Amsterdam Impressionism, he is noted especially for his paintings of street scenes and harbours in a realistic style. He pa ...

who was to become a lifelong friend. In 1881, when he was 16, he sold a painting, ''Bugle Practice'', even before it was finished to the artist and collector

Hendrik Willem Mesdag Hendrik Willem Mesdag (23 February 1831 – 10 July 1915) was a Dutch marine painter. Biography He was born in Groningen, the son of the banker Klaas Mesdag and his wife Johanna Wilhelmina van Giffen. Mesdag was encouraged by his fath ...

. Two portraits he made in the same year of his grandmother and a family friend, Nannette Enthoven (below), attest to the technical ability he had attained by that age. Starting in 1878, Israëls made annual visits to the ''

Salon des Artistes Français The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

'' with his father and in 1882 made his debut there with ''Military Burial''. In the 1885 ''Salon'' he received an honourable mention for his ''Transport of Colonial Soldiers''. At this time he was reading

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

, as was Breitner, and following his triumph at the ''Salon'' he spent a year travelling in the Belgian mining districts and elsewhere. Beginning 1886, Israëls lived in Amsterdam and registered with Breitner at the Royal Academy of Visual Arts to complete his schooling. Both of them, however, quickly abandoned the academy for the more progressive circle of the ''

Tachtigers The Tachtigers ("Eightiers"), otherwise known as the Movement of Eighty ( nl, Beweging van Tachtig), were a radical and influential group of Dutch writers who developed a new approach in 19th-century Dutch literature. They interacted and worked ...

'', an influential group of writers and artists of the time. This was a group that insisted style must reflect content and that emotionally charged subjects can only be represented by an equally intense technique. Influenced by this philosophy, Israëls became a painter of the streets, cafes, and cabarets of Amsterdam. At this time he met the Dutch engraver and painter

Willem de Zwart Wilhelmus "Willem" Hendrikus Petrus Johannes de Zwart (16 May 1862 The Hague – 11 December 1931 The Hague) was a Dutch painter, engraver, and watercolorist with many connections to the Hague School and later associated with the Amsterda ...

who also became a lifelong friend. He often spent his summers with his father in the Dutch seaside resort of

Scheveningen Scheveningen is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict (''wijk'') of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is po ...

near The Hague. Guests included

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Born ...

and

Max Liebermann Max Liebermann (20 July 1847 – 8 February 1935) was a German painter and printmaker, and one of the leading proponents of Impressionism in Germany and continental Europe. In addition to his activity as an artist, he also assembled an important ...

. Interested by the changing light of sun and sea, he painted many colourful seaside scenes. Towards the end of the century, Israëls was introduced by his childhood friend and portrait painter

Thérèse Schwartze Thérèse Schwartze (20 December 185123 December 1918) was a Dutch portrait painter. Life Thérèse Schwartze was born on 20 December 1851 in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She was the daughter of the painter Johan Georg Schwartze, who grew u ...

to the Amsterdam fashion house at the

Leidseplein Leidseplein (English: Leiden Square) is a square in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the Weteringschans neighborhood ( Centrum borough), immediately northeast of the Singelgracht. It is located on the crossroads of the Weteringschans, Ma ...

. Israëls portrayed the whole range of the world of ''

haute couture ''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...

'', from seamstress to wealthy client, gaining access even to the fitting-rooms. Israëls moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1904, establishing his studio at 10 rue Alfred Stevens, , near

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

and just yards away from the studio of

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in the ...

whom he admired, as he also did

Edgar Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is es ...

. As in Amsterdam, he painted the Parisian specific motifs: the public parks, cafes, cabarets and bistros, as well as such subjects as fairgrounds and circus acrobats. Likewise he sought out the fashion houses Paquin and to continue his studies of the world of fashion. However, he only exhibited once in this period, in 1909. At the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he was living in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he found new subjects in horse-riding at Rotten Row and in ballerinas and boxers. He returned to Holland for the duration of the war, living alternately in The Hague, Amsterdam and Scheveningen, where he worked primarily as a portrait painter. Amongst his sitters was Magaretha Gertrud Zelle, better known as

Mata Hari Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (née Zelle; 7 August 187615 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari (), was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. She was executed ...

, executed as a spy in France in 1917. Her portrait can be seen at the

Kröller-Müller Museum The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a national art museum and sculpture garden, located in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum, founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of ...

. Other sitters included

Johanna van Gogh-Bonger Johanna (Jo) Gezina van Gogh-Bonger (4 October 1862 – 2 September 1925) was a multilingual Dutch editor and translator of the letters of the van Gogh brothers. Sister-in-law of the painter Vincent van Gogh, and wife of his brother Theo van Go ...

and the feminist physician

Aletta Jacobs Aletta Henriëtte Jacobs (; 9 February 1854 – 10 August 1929) was a Dutch physician and women's suffrage activist. As the first woman officially to attend a Dutch university, she became one of the first female physicians in the Netherlands. I ...

, although he also portrayed ordinary subjects such as girls in the street and telephone operators. Following the war, Israëls visited Paris,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

and London. He spent the years 1921 to 1922 travelling in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, sketching and painting the vibrant life of

South East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

and notably the ''

gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...

'' players of

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

. On his return, he settled at Koninginnegracht 2, The Hague, his deceased parents' home, where he remained for the rest of his life, nevertheless making regular trips abroad to London, Italy and the French Riviera. At the age of 63, he won a Gold Medal at the

1928 Olympic Games 1928 Olympics may refer to: *The 1928 Winter Olympics, which were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland *The 1928 Summer Olympics, which were held in Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most po ...

for his painting ''Red Rider'', an art competition then being part of the games. He died in The Hague on 7 October 1934, aged 69, as a result of a street accident a few days before. His partner at that time was Sophie de Vries.

Art market

On 26 April 2005, one of his ''Donkey riding on the Beach'' series realised €482,400 at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

, Amsterdam. The sale example was almost identical to the one in the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

, Amsterdam ( below), but larger and a little more delicate in tone. On 24 October 2006, ''A table at the Restaurant Le Perroquet, Paris'' realised €493,600 at Christie's, Amsterdam. In July 2012 the City Archive of Amsterdam organized a solo exhibition to present Isaac Israëls's works in Amsterdam.

Public collections

Among the public collections holding works by Isaac Israëls are: *

Museum de Fundatie Museum de Fundatie () is a museum for the visual arts in Zwolle, Netherlands. Museum de Fundatie forms part of the Hannema-de Stuers Foundation, to which Kasteel het Nijenhuis in Heino also belongs. Museum de Fundatie possesses a collection of vis ...

Zwolle Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is o ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Ste ...

Gallery

File:Gewonde KNIL-militair door Isaac Israels.jpg, '' Portrait of a Wounded KNIL Soldier'', 1882 File:Isaac Israels - Transport of colonial soldiers - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Het transport der kolonialen'' (1883–84), showing the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army walking through

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

to their transport to the Dutch East Indies File:Isaac Israels - Donkeyride.jpg, '' Riding Donkeys on the Beach'', c.1898-1900 File:Isaac Israëls - In het Bois de Boulogne bij Parijs.jpg, ''In the Bois de Boulogne close to Paris'', oil on canvas, 1906 File:Isaac Israëls - Naaiatelier van modehuis Paquin, Parijs.jpg, ''Seamstresses at Atelier Paquin, Paris'', pencil and pastel on paper, ca. 1904 File:Isaac Israels - Liggend naakt (Sjaantje van Ingen) 19e eeuw.jpg, ''Reclining Nude'', c. 1894–1900 File:Israels Isaac - Shop Window.jpg, alt=, ''Shop window (Etalage)'', painted between 1894 and 1898 File:Reading woman on a couch, by Isaac Israels.jpg, alt=, Girl reading on a sofa c. 1920 File:Isaac Israëls - Portret van Nanette Enthoven.jpg, ''Portrait of Nanette Enthoven'', oil on canvas, 1881Portrait of Nanette Enthoven (1852- before 1903)
oil on canvas, 64 x 46 cm, 1881, an early work painted when Isaac was just 16 years old. File:Isaac Israëls - Twee meisjes in de sneeuw.jpg, '' Two Girls in the Snow'', 1894,

File:Isaac Israels - Ippy and Gertie Posing at Fashion House Hirsch, Amsterdam.png, '' Ippy and Gertie Posing at Fashion House Hirsch, Amsterdam'', ca. 1916 File:Painting of Mata Hari by Isaac Israels.jpg, Painting of ''

'' by Isaac Israëls, 1916 File:Isaac Israels - Woman before ''Sunflowers'' by van Gogh, 1917.JPG, ''Woman before "

Sunflowers ''Helianthus'' () is a genus comprising about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae commonly known as sunflowers. Except for three South American species, the species of ''Helianthus'' are native to N ...

" by

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...

'', ca. 1917,

, ZwolleAround 1917 Israëls borrowed a version of van Gogh's ''Sunflowers'' (the version now in the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

, London) from Jo Bonger and used it as a backdrop for several of his portraits, of which this example and ''Homage to Van Gogh (Blue Blouse)'' are the best known. Isaac's father Josef was an important influence on van Gogh. File:Isaac Israëls - A table au Restaurant Le Perroquet, Paris.jpg, ''A table au Restaurant Le Perroquet, Paris'', between 1905 and 1923

Notes

References

External links

Isaac Israëls entry at Netherlands Institute for Art HistoryRijksmuseum website entryGeheugen van Nederland archiveIsraëls' Gold Medal in the 128 Olympic Games (''Journal of Olympic History '')Israels Genealogy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Israels, Isaac 1865 births 1934 deaths Painters from Amsterdam Dutch Jews Dutch Impressionist painters Fashion illustrators Jewish painters Olympic gold medalists in art competitions 19th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters 20th-century Dutch painters Royal Academy of Art, The Hague alumni Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands Olympic competitors in art competitions 19th-century Dutch male artists 20th-century Dutch male artists