Flowers in a wicker basket

After having spent a year in the Dutch Indies between 1921 and 1922, Isaac Israels returned to The Hague in 1923. A zealous adventurer, the artist continued travelling abroad, visiting Switserland, Italy and France on various occasions between 1924 and 1934. Despite this apparently mondaine life-style, Isaac's daily activities were characterized by a strict routine, with the artist venturing out to town and to the boulevard of Scheveningen at set times. He must thus have been reasonably surprised when a flower seller from Rijnsburg with a full basket of brightly colored tulips and daffodils rang at his house around 1924. Primarily known for his dynamic impressions of people and not particularly for his still lifes, the artist was probably struck by the fleeting beauty of the fresh bunches of flowers and immediately cried out: 'Wat kost die hele mand' (De Rijnsburger, 3 April 1989). It has been suggested that Isaac also requested the flower seller, identified by his son Wim as being Dirk van Egmond, to return the next day to exchange the eventual withered ones. Israels herewith transformed a typical everyday life phenomenon into a monumental testimony to his time and bestowed it with a mediterannean flair by placing the flowers in a golden light that brings to mind his work from Italy and the South of France. Isaac eventually painted the motif of the Rijnsburger bloemenmand on at least six ocassions, applying variations to the colour of the flowers, the shape and the quantity of the baskets. Composition-wise the present lot stands out due to the abundance and variety of depicted flowers.