Details

Name

Josef Israels

Brief Biography

1824 - 1911, Dutch

Occupation

Artist

Description

Internationally acclaimed during his own lifetime, Israëls was hailed as a second Rembrandt. Many artists were influenced by him including Artz, Blommers and Van Gogh. In a career spanning almost seventy years, he produced paintings, drawings and etchings and wrote books, poetry and reviews. Honoured with medals both at home and abroad, in 1904, on the occasion of his eightieth birthday, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the Dutch Lion.

Israëls came from a relatively poor Jewish family. He enrolled at the Minerva Academy in Groningen in 1835 and at the Academy in Amsterdam in 1842. He traveled to Paris in 1845 where he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. On his return to Amsterdam he concentrated on traditional Salon subjects such as portraiture and genre and history pieces. In 1855 his art suddenly changed direction. Forced to spend some time in the small fishing village of Zandvoort for health reasons – he lodged with a village carpenter – he became fascinated by the poverty-stricken existence of the fishermen and their families. He realized that the tragic and humble qualities of the everyday life of these people could be much more powerful and immediate than a subject drawn from history.

This theme was to be an important source of inspiration for him and it was with these works that he won an international reputation. It was at this time too that he first painted works which, simultaneously romantic and realistic, represented death.

From the 1880s death or human suffering was a central theme of his work. As De Gruyter has written, these works were ‘stories without a story’ as they have no definite plot, the artist being interested only in communicating the harshness of the lives of those depicted. By making use of stark contrasts of dark and light (chiaroscuro) Israëls heightened the dramatic impact of these images.

In 1863 married Aleida Schaap. They lived until 1871 in Amsterdam where their daughter and son Isaac were born. The family then settled permanently in The Hague. Israëls had a large studio built in the garden of his home with a special ‘fishing corner’ where his models posed. Israëls always enjoyed traveling – he visited Aberdeen in 1872! He toured Europe with his wife and children in 1877 and from 1878 they made an annual pilgrimage to the Paris Salon. In 1894 he traveled to Spain and North Africa with is artist son Isaac and the writer Frans Erens.

In a short poem published in 1882 Israëls succinctly described his aims:
‘Yes to capture an idea in a work of art
That can penetrate the human heart
To sing therein of sorrow or delight
For this my muse strives with all its might’