Jozef Israels

Sale: Haagse Kunstkring/J.J. Biesing, The Hague, June 8, 1909, lot 118, illustrated (as Terug van den arbeid)
Sale: Frederik Muller & Co., December 30, 1938, lot 76, illustrated (as Huiswaarts)

"Kunstveiling J.J. Biesing's Gravenhage," De Kunst, June 5, 1909

The present picture, with its smooth brushwork and harmonious color palette, probably dates among Israëls' later work of the 1880s.  An exact date is difficult to determine as the subject of peasant children (often accompanied by an older woman) returning home from the fields is a recurrent and beloved theme in the artist's work often commissioned by art dealers or private collectors.