Onder de lamp: a self portrait of the artist writing in his study

In the published diary of his journey through Spain of 1899 Josef Israels starts his account with a story about himself sitting at home at a table. On the first page a lithograph of the present lot is prominently printed. Israels wrote: 'Returned home in my own home and my own chair, I often sat under the quiet light of the lamp dreaming about that booklet. It was than that I decided to write about the trip'.