Israels was an outstanding example of someone who could look. He confines himself to life as an aesthetic phenomenon. He was keen to capture that life, to hold a moment that would never return. But what struck him most in that moment was a human trait, a mood in his subject which he was able to communicate in an inscrutable way.” - Dolf Welling, Isaac Israels: The Sunny World of a Hague Cosmopolitan, The Hague, 1991, p. 41

The Dutch maestro Isaac Israels is recognized as one of the leading artists of the Amsterdam Impressionist movement whose works truly capture the zeitgeist of the period at the cusp of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Vigorously painted with a swift yet sure hand, Two Javanese Dancers portrays dancers at rest, assumedly backstage. Seated in quiet confidence, they permeate the work with an arresting presence. It must be noted that Israel's’ works, particularly those comprising of Indonesian subject matter, rarely surface in the market. The present lot provides collectors with the rare opportunity to acquire a glorious work by Israels, who stands as a defining spirit in Dutch Impressionism.

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「伊斯瑞奧斯是觀察者的典範。他將自己局限於以美學現象為生活的框框當中。他熱衷於捕捉這種生活,捉緊一去不返的霎那。但那一刻最能觸動他的,是一種人的特質,畫中主角的一種情緒,而他的表達方法卻是不可言傳。」

——鐸夫·偉林,《艾薩克·伊斯瑞奧斯:海牙都市的陽光世界》,海牙,1991年,頁41。

荷蘭藝術大師艾薩克·伊斯瑞奧斯是世所公認的阿姆斯特丹印象派優秀藝術家,其作品傳神地捕捉了十九世紀末至二十世紀初的時代精神。伊斯瑞奧斯用敏銳而堅定的筆觸生動地描繪兩位應是在後台休息中的爪哇舞者。他們安然自若地坐著,引人入勝的氣氛漫延整個畫面。伊斯瑞奧斯的作品甚少現身市場,以印尼為主題的畫作更是稀少。伊斯瑞奧斯是阿姆斯特丹印象派藝術的關鍵人物,本作為藏家帶來難得的收藏機會。