Isaac Israëls and Reading Girl On A Sofa

'Reading Girl On A Sofa' (1920) by Isaac Israëls; no location found

It's always nice to be able to do a post on a Dutch painter (because I'm Dutch) and I am happy to introduce you today to Isaac Israëls, born on 3 February 1865 and died on 7 October 1934. He was linked to Amsterdam Impressionism, an art movement of the late 19th century, mainly associated with the great Dutch painter George Hendrik Breitner. Israëls was the son of the painter Jozef Israëls, who was one of the most famous artists of the Hague School, and studied at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague where he met Breitner. They became lifelong friends. Israëls's passions were painting, travel and literature, and he painted portraits, city views, and women. He often spent his summer holidays at the Dutch seaside resort of Scheveningen with his father and they would invite guests like Édouard Manet and Max Liebermann. Born in Amsterdam and died in The Hague, his work has an Amsterdam period as well as a The Hague one. There were major exhibitions in Amsterdam and The Hague over the summer months and I regret having missed them. I just haven't been paying close attention to what was going on artwise in the last few months (other than the Impressionist exhibition at the Hermitage, Amsterdam, which I háve visited, and will visit again in the coming month because it is wonderful). Anyway, these are the exhibitions that I've missed: one at the Stadsarchief in Amsterdam about Israëls's work in Amsterdam, and one at several museums in The Hague about his The Hague period. I don't even want to look closely at the links I've just provided you with, because I can kick myself for having missed the exhibitions.