An Elegant Lady on a Balcony, Paris

From 1878 onwards, Isaac Israels and his family visited Paris annually for the Salon des artistes. Here, the young artist became well-acquainted with new artistic movements and pioneering artists, including important figures such as Émile Zola, Berthe Morisot, Odile Redon and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He exhibited his own art in Paris, beginning in 1882, and then again during a longer stay in 1889, with his art finding much success in the French capital. Israels left Amsterdam permanently for Paris in 1903, where he would live for the next ten years. This move was in part enabled by Hirsch & Cie., a prestigious couturier based on the Leidseplein in Amsterdam, who had arranged permission for Israels to paint at Paquin, one of the leading Paris fashion houses. As such, Israels was no stranger at Paquin on Rue de la Paix and Décroll on Place de l'Opéra, bringing the Parisian fashion industry to life in his art. Isaacs also painted Paris and its boulevards from his lofty studio. Initially, he had resided in the Hotel Le Peletier in the Rue des Petits Champs, close to the galleries of Durand-Ruel. Around 1907, he repeatedly painted the sloping Rue de Clignancourt at the junction with Boulevard de Rochechouart and the Rue Castiglione, where Isaac stayed at the Hotel Continental. In these works, his palette adopts a distinctly French sensibility, diverging from the tonalities of his scenes created in Amsterdam and The Hague. The pastels are rendered with a delicate touch, while the oil paints appear luminous and translucent, suffused with soft hues of pink, green, blue, and pink-beige. Elegant women posing on the balconies as seen in the present lot are among the best and most appreciated paintings by Israels. Although the present balcony is one that occurs frequently within Israel’s œuvre, its precise address has never been determined by scholars – though arguably, it was located on either the Rue de Clignancourt or the Rue de Castiglione.