I.L. (ISAAC) ISRAELS

Artists

Biography

I.L. (ISAAC) ISRAELS
1865 Amsterdam - 1934 The Hague

Jozef Israëls’s son, Isaac Israels (1865–1934) was raised on a diet of painting and travel. At thirteen, he entered art school in The Hague, where his prodigious talent was soon noticed. In 1881, he began a painting that was purchased before it was completed by Hendrik Willem Mesdag. In 1886, Israels enrolled at Amsterdam’s Art Academy, where he was considered ‘too good’. Israels often spent the summer months with his father in Scheveningen, where he painted seaside scenes in bright colours. In Amsterdam, Israels spent much time with George Hendrik Breitner. Both were fascinated by the idea of portraying city life by capturing a passing moment in time. To convey the sense of a snapshot, they cropped their subjects abruptly. By endless drawing and sketching in the city both artists, captured the movement, the dynamics of everyday life. Always doubting his talent, Isaac then stopped painting for nearly seven years. When he restarted his work, it was with renewed energy that speaks for itself when looking at his extensive work. Isaac travelled widely often together with his father: Paris, London, Italy, crossing Switzerland and Germany. In 1921 he undertook a long-coveted journey to the Dutch East Indies. As a young painter the exotic atmosphere already fascinated Isaac. After the death of both his parents, he returned to The Hague, settling in his father’s studio where he worked until he died in 1934.