.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Israels counts today as the only true Impressionist painter in Dutch art. Indeed his swiftly rendered street scenes, parks, night cafes, dressing rooms, theatre scenes and more form a unique contribution to the development of the art of his day, as being truly modern in subject matter and style. In these scenes Israels reveals himself as a sharp observer of human pose and expression, able to capture the essence of a quickly passing moment in a few sweeps of his virtuous brush or pen. The only son of the famous painter Jozef Israels (1824-1911), Isaac's talent for drawing was recognised from a young age. Born in Amsterdam, in 1872 Isaac moved with his family to The Hague, where his father became one of the leading figures among the painters of the The Hague School. After having received his first training from his father, Isaac followed courses at the academy in The Hague in 1877-78. Here he met George Hendrik Breitner, who was his classmate. Dissatisfied with the cultural climate in The Hague, both artists moved to Amsterdam in 1886, where they soon became associated with the literary movement of the Tachtigers.
For Israels, the dynamism of contemporary Amsterdam was the environment he had been looking for for a long time. At a safe distance from his father in The Hague, he now embarked on the subject matter that was best suited to his restless nature. With Breitner, he founded the so-called Amsterdam School of Impressionism, which replaced the rural motifs of The Hague School painting by motifs from city life. Breitner made extensive use of the camera as a source for his poetic images of streets and canals in subdued colours. Israels sought direct engagement with his subjects in sketches; from 1894 he also painted en plein air.
In 1903, Israels left Amsterdam to move to Paris, where he installed himself on the second floor of Boulevard de Clichy no. 9, later Rue Alfred Stevens, no. 10; a studio which he would keep until 1925. The French capital and its art scene were not unfamiliar to Isaac, because he had accompanied his father on his yearly visits to the Salon beginning in 1878. The city had also provided him with his first artistic successes during the eighties, when his friend Frans Erens (1857-1935) had introduced him to several French writers upon visits to the city together. Now, Paris was to provide Isaac with new pictorial motifs, such as figures in the Bois de Boulogne, maids on the Place Vendôme and the views of the Rue de Clignancourt (see: lot 266), but most of all with a lighter palette. Following the death of his father, Isaac Israels returned to The Hague in 1911. Here he settled in his ancestral home at the Koninginnegracht, but remained undecided for some time if this was where he wished to remain. In 1913/14 he lived in London and then finally in 1917 embarked on the refurbishment of his father's studio at the Laan van Roos en Doorn to adapt it to his own taste and style. This refurbishment would set off a highly productive and very successful period in the artists's career.
The present lot, seen from the top floor of the Hotel de l'Europe, was painted in the winter of 1918 during one of Israels' occasional visits to the city. Indeed in a letter of the 6th of March 1918 to his friend Erens, Israels confirms his stay in the hotel and his interest in the subject that winter (see: F. Heybroek, op.cit., p. 154, note 2). Obviously he embarked on it on several occasions that winter, as two more versions of the composition exist, one with the view under snow (see: fig. 1 (Centraal Museum, Utrecht) and fig. 2 (Private Collection)). He also used the view in a selfportrait (Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam). The present painting differs from the other three by not not having any trams in the foreground, but instead enhancing the hard winter light in long shadows cast by the figures and bicycles on the sunlit square in the foreground. The rose colour of the sky seems to indicate a winter day with freezing temperatures.
The series of the Munttower are, in their rendering of light, colour and movement, among the most impressionist paintings in the oeuvre of the artist. Anticipated by the Views of the Rue de Clignancourt from 1908/9 and by Views of Regent Street from 1913/14, the painting confirms Israels affinity with French impressionism. No doubt, Israels must have been well aware of famous precedents - such as by Claude Monet (1840-1926) and Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) - when he installed himself at the Hotel de L'Europe to paint what was the most important traffic knot of Amsterdam from a high viewpoint, aiming to establish himself in the tradition of that great era of French impressionist painting. Recognised as paintings of an international style, the series of the Munttower were an immediate success among collectors of the period.
For Israels, the dynamism of contemporary Amsterdam was the environment he had been looking for for a long time. At a safe distance from his father in The Hague, he now embarked on the subject matter that was best suited to his restless nature. With Breitner, he founded the so-called Amsterdam School of Impressionism, which replaced the rural motifs of The Hague School painting by motifs from city life. Breitner made extensive use of the camera as a source for his poetic images of streets and canals in subdued colours. Israels sought direct engagement with his subjects in sketches; from 1894 he also painted en plein air.
In 1903, Israels left Amsterdam to move to Paris, where he installed himself on the second floor of Boulevard de Clichy no. 9, later Rue Alfred Stevens, no. 10; a studio which he would keep until 1925. The French capital and its art scene were not unfamiliar to Isaac, because he had accompanied his father on his yearly visits to the Salon beginning in 1878. The city had also provided him with his first artistic successes during the eighties, when his friend Frans Erens (1857-1935) had introduced him to several French writers upon visits to the city together. Now, Paris was to provide Isaac with new pictorial motifs, such as figures in the Bois de Boulogne, maids on the Place Vendôme and the views of the Rue de Clignancourt (see: lot 266), but most of all with a lighter palette. Following the death of his father, Isaac Israels returned to The Hague in 1911. Here he settled in his ancestral home at the Koninginnegracht, but remained undecided for some time if this was where he wished to remain. In 1913/14 he lived in London and then finally in 1917 embarked on the refurbishment of his father's studio at the Laan van Roos en Doorn to adapt it to his own taste and style. This refurbishment would set off a highly productive and very successful period in the artists's career.
The present lot, seen from the top floor of the Hotel de l'Europe, was painted in the winter of 1918 during one of Israels' occasional visits to the city. Indeed in a letter of the 6th of March 1918 to his friend Erens, Israels confirms his stay in the hotel and his interest in the subject that winter (see: F. Heybroek, op.cit., p. 154, note 2). Obviously he embarked on it on several occasions that winter, as two more versions of the composition exist, one with the view under snow (see: fig. 1 (Centraal Museum, Utrecht) and fig. 2 (Private Collection)). He also used the view in a selfportrait (Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam). The present painting differs from the other three by not not having any trams in the foreground, but instead enhancing the hard winter light in long shadows cast by the figures and bicycles on the sunlit square in the foreground. The rose colour of the sky seems to indicate a winter day with freezing temperatures.
The series of the Munttower are, in their rendering of light, colour and movement, among the most impressionist paintings in the oeuvre of the artist. Anticipated by the Views of the Rue de Clignancourt from 1908/9 and by Views of Regent Street from 1913/14, the painting confirms Israels affinity with French impressionism. No doubt, Israels must have been well aware of famous precedents - such as by Claude Monet (1840-1926) and Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) - when he installed himself at the Hotel de L'Europe to paint what was the most important traffic knot of Amsterdam from a high viewpoint, aiming to establish himself in the tradition of that great era of French impressionist painting. Recognised as paintings of an international style, the series of the Munttower were an immediate success among collectors of the period.