Bathers on the beach of Viareggio, Italy

As early as the 19th Century, the mundane Viareggio attracted visitors with its long, sandy beaches, many villas, a new harbour and hotels stretching in front of the charming backdrop of evergreen pine groves and impressive mountains. Viareggio opened one of the first official Lidos in Italy by the end of the 19th Century. Along a wide, carefully designed, promenade lined with luxurious villas, palaces and palm trees it turned into one of the most attractive resorts on the Tuscan coast, very popular by artists and affluent art lovers. It was at its peak as a resort in the 1920's when Isaac Israels frequently visited the place. The beach was one of his favorite themes and Viareggio was a great inspiration for him. Israels impressions of the coastal life were inspired by the work of his father Jozef Israels (1824-1911), the successful Hague School painter, who painted fishermen on the North Sea and who took the young Isaac early on trips to Italy. Other sources of inspiration were the German painter Max Liebermann (1847-1935) and French Impressionists.