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Isaac Israels, Amsterdam Impressionist
Isaac Israels (Amsterdam 1865 – The Hague 1934) is one of the most important Amsterdam Impressionists. He is a master at painting everyday scenes. He particularly enjoys painting the fashionable life in the big city, just like his friend and colleague George Breitner. Both artists belong to the Amsterdam Impressionists. Fascinated by the dark side of the city, Isaac Israels frequently paints the bustling nightlife, with its unrestrained café-goers and dancing girls. But the lightness of the day is also an interesting subject for Israels. He has passers-by on the canals and in the parks in his sights.
In 1888, Isaac Israels moved from the Amsterdam city center to a studio on Eerste Parkstraat, now called Oosterpark. The park is still under construction; the rural atmosphere of the surroundings is very slowly taking on a more urban character. Israels sketches summery scenes in the park, which he later develops in his studio into—primarily—watercolors. He observes mainly playing children and strolling passers-by. These reappear frequently in his works. And a remarkable fact: Isaac Israels lived by Oosterpark for fifteen years, and during that time, he never created a winter painting.
All in all, Isaac Israels' paintings provide a beautiful picture of Amsterdam at the fin de siècle. Characteristic of his impressionistic style is the use of intense colors. And unlike Breitner, who generally worked in dark earth tones, Israels' palette is lighter and fresh.
Isaac Israels spent only a brief time at art school. Essentially, he is self-taught, although he received lessons for a time in the studio of his father, Jozef Israëls, the famous painter considered part of the Hague School. However, Isaac rebelled against his father early on; he wanted to develop his own style and not ride in the slipstream of his father's success.
Isaac Israels, a travel-loving painter
Incidentally, he inherited not only his artistic painting genes from his father, but also his love of travel. Isaac Israels traveled extensively and lived for several years in Paris, the Dutch East Indies, and London, before returning to the family home in 1923. He began working in his father's beautiful studio in The Hague.
Just as Amsterdam was once that for him at the beginning of his career, his new living environment also became an important source of inspiration. The Hague proved to give his work an enormous boost. It was as if Israels had reinvented painting. The Hague of that time was growing and flourishing like never before, and Scheveningen was a fashionable seaside resort, a place par excellence where artists loved to come. Isaac Israels also spent a lot of time on the beach to work. He regularly painted there, even in the company of his father. Israels junior painted countless beach scenes, from elegant ladies strolling on the Boulevard to cheerful children riding donkeys on the beach. His work has been particularly popular among many art lovers and collectors for years. His work also holds great appeal for museums; virtually all Dutch museums have paintings, pastels, or drawings by this artist in their collections.