Isaac Lazarus Israëls (; 3 February 1865 – 7 October 1934) was a Dutch painter associated with the Amsterdam Impressionism movement. IsraelsScala

Biography

The son of

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

, one of the most respected painters of the Hague School, and Aleida Schaap, Isaac Israëls displayed precocious artistic talent from an early age. Israëls was Jewish. Between 1880 and 1882 he studied at the

Royal Academy of Art, The Hague The Royal Academy of Art (, KABK) is an art and design academy in The Hague, offering programs at both the Education in the Netherlands, HBO bachelor's and master's levels, as well as PhD programs. Succeeding the ''Haagsche Teeken-Academie'' (pa ...

, 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 p ...

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. 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'' 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 (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

, 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'', 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 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 () of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular ...

near The Hague. Guests included

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, 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 (art movement), R ...

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 to the Amsterdam fashion house at the Leidseplein. Israëls portrayed the whole range of the world of ''

haute couture (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design. The term ''haute couture'' generally refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the ...

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

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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

Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...

and just yards away from the studio of

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Count, ''Comte'' Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator whose immersion in the colour ...

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 e ...

. 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was living in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 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 (, ; 7 August 187615 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari ( , ; , ), was a Dutch Stripper, exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for German Empire, Germany during World War ...

, executed as a spy in France in 1917. Her portrait can be seen at the Kröller-Müller Museum. Other sitters included

Johanna van Gogh-Bonger Johanna Gezina van Gogh-Bonger (4 October 1862 – 2 September 1925) was a Dutch editor who translated the hundreds of letters of her first husband, art dealer Theo van Gogh (art dealer), Theo van Gogh, and his brother, Vincent van Gogh. Van ...

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

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

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

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

, sketching and painting the vibrant life of

South East Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and notably the ''

gamelan Gamelan (; ; , ; ) is the traditional musical ensemble, ensemble music of the Javanese people, Javanese, Sundanese people, Sundanese, and Balinese people, Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussion instrument, per ...

'' players of

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, 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 o ...

. On his return, he settled at Koninginnegracht 2,

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, 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 for his painting "Cavalier rouge" (Ruiter in rode rok, ''Red Rider''), an art competition then being part of the games. He participated in two other Olympic Games art competitions, 1924 at Paris and 1932 at Los Angeles. He died at home, in The Hague on 7 October 1934, aged 69, two days after he was hit by a car, a street accident. 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, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

, 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 S ...

, Amsterdam (

below Below may refer to: *Earth *Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname * Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general * Fred Belo ...

), 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 List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

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 Museumplein, Museum Square in the stadsdeel, borough of Amsterdam-Zuid, Amsterdam South, ...

* Museo Soumaya Mexico City

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 The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (; KNIL, ; ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The KNIL's air arm was the Royal Netherl ...

walking through

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

to their transport to the

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 The Bois de Boulogne (, "Boulogne woodland") is a large public park that is the western half of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. The land was ceded to the city of Paris by the Em ...

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 Israëls - A table au Restaurant Le Perroquet, Paris.jpg, ''A table au Restaurant Le Perroquet, Paris'', between 1905 and 1923 (The restaurant is on the mezzanine of the foyer under the large glass roof of Casino de Paris) File:Isaac Israels - Woman before ''Sunflowers'' by van Gogh, 1917.JPG, '' Woman in Profile in Front of Van Gogh's Sunflowers'', 1918,

, ZwolleAround 1917 Israëls borrowed the fourth version of van Gogh's ''Sunflowers'' (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 more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

, London) from Jo Bonger and used it as a backdrop for several of his portraits, of which this example an
''Homage to Van Gogh (Blue Blouse)''
are the best known. Isaac's father Josef was an important influence on van Gogh. File:Isaac israels homage to van gogh.jpg, Homage to Van Gogh (Blue Blouse) File:Israels Naakt voor zonnebloemen.jpg, Naakt, model voor Van Goghs Zonnebloemen File:Model voor zonnebloemen.jpg, Vrouw voor Van Goghs Zonnebloemen File:Israels Vrouw voor zonnebloemen.jpg, Zittende vrouw voor Van Goghs Zonnebloemen

Notes

References

External links

Isaac Israëls
at

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...

Isaac Israëls
at

Isaac Israëls biography
at ''Rehs Galleries''
Isaac Israëls
at Geheugen van Nederland archive ( Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision &

Royal Library of the Netherlands The KB National Library of the Netherlands (legal Dutch name: Koninklijke Bibliotheek or KB ; ''Royal Library'') is the national library of the Netherlands, based in The Hague, founded in 1798. The KB collects everything that is published in ...

)
Gold Medal in the 1928 Olympic Games (''Journal of Olympic History '')
- la84foundation.org
Isaac Israëls' Genealogy
at middel.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Israels, Isaac 1865 births 1934 deaths Painters from Amsterdam Jewish Dutch artists 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 Art competitors at the 1928 Summer Olympics 19th-century Dutch male artists 20th-century Dutch male artists Alumni of Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten