Israels, Isaac (1865-1934) - 1898-1900 Donkey Riding (Rijksmuseum, The Netherlands)
Isaac Israels was the son of the painter Jozef Israëls. He was largely self-taught, showing precocious talent and attending the Academie in The Hague in 1878-80. His first paintings date from 1880-84 and include a self-portrait, portraits of women and military subjects. They were composed in the studio in a precise style, soft grey and brown tones predominating, showing the influence of the Hague school. In 1887 Israels moved to Amsterdam, where he was at the center of the Tachtigers (Eighties Movement) of writers and painters. In Amsterdam, after a brief and abortive period at the Rijksacademie, he sought a more fluent technique with which to record contemporary life.
In 1889 he visited Paris, where he met Stéphane Mallarmé, Berthe Morisot, Odilon Redon and Emile Zola. From then on he applied transparent colours (mainly pink, blues, green and light brown) to capture the fleeting effects of light in oil, watercolor and pastel. His oils were painted in flat broad strokes. For the rest of his life he employed his very personal Impressionist style, which emphasized the interplay of light, colour, line and movement. His favorite subjects were beach, street and park scenes, cabarets and circuses, fairs, ballet schools and the theater. He also painted portraits, nudes and occasionally still-lifes.
Israels, Isaac (1865-1934) - 1898-1900 Donkey Riding (Rijksmuseum, The Netherlands)
Isaac Israels was the son of the painter Jozef Israëls. He was largely self-taught, showing precocious talent and attending the Academie in The Hague in 1878-80. His first paintings date from 1880-84 and include a self-portrait, portraits of women and military subjects. They were composed in the studio in a precise style, soft grey and brown tones predominating, showing the influence of the Hague school. In 1887 Israels moved to Amsterdam, where he was at the center of the Tachtigers (Eighties Movement) of writers and painters. In Amsterdam, after a brief and abortive period at the Rijksacademie, he sought a more fluent technique with which to record contemporary life.
In 1889 he visited Paris, where he met Stéphane Mallarmé, Berthe Morisot, Odilon Redon and Emile Zola. From then on he applied transparent colours (mainly pink, blues, green and light brown) to capture the fleeting effects of light in oil, watercolor and pastel. His oils were painted in flat broad strokes. For the rest of his life he employed his very personal Impressionist style, which emphasized the interplay of light, colour, line and movement. His favorite subjects were beach, street and park scenes, cabarets and circuses, fairs, ballet schools and the theater. He also painted portraits, nudes and occasionally still-lifes.