Two Modinettes on the Place Vendôme, Paris

Paris, the cultural capital of Europe during the fin-du-siècle, was an important source of inspiration to the Dutch impressionist Isaac Israels. As a young man Isaac often travelled to Paris with his parents and sister to visit the annual Salon des Artistes Français. In June 1903 Israels left Amsterdam for Paris permanently, where he was introduced to the leading fashion houses in Paris by the Dutch firm Hirsch. Israels was given the opportunity to sketch and paint amongst the seamstresses of Décroll on the Place de l'Opéra and Paquin in the Rue de la Paix. He wrote: '(...) ik ben indertijd hoofdzakelijk naar Parijs gegaan omdat ik daar een goede introductie had bij een groote couturier en zoo komt men van het een tot het ander (...).' (see: letter to G.H. Marius, dated 18 May 1915, Collection Gemeentearchief, The Hague).

And so he turned his impressions of the Parisian atmosphere into a large number of dynamic paintings, watercolours, pastels and drawings. Like before, Isaac's attention was still drawn by people in action, but everyday life now became mundane. The artist regularly depicted the beauty of young 'Parisiennes' as can be seen in the present lot. Here two modinettes stroll on Place Vendôme. These two ladies seem to have caught Israels' eye, as they appear in multiple variations of this setting in numerous paintings, pastels and watercolours (fig. 1).

The present lot in particular is an excellent example of Isaac's Parisian style, which may be considered to be the finest of his career. The relatively light colours and rapid treatment of the subject matter are stylistic elements used by the French Impressionists, who led Isaac to change his palette. However, Isaac Israels paintings are not as extreme in terms of their focus on colour and light as some of his French contemporaries: his main focus was on subject matter. To him, the characteristic portrayal of a situation remained the most important.