Isaac Israels

Private collection, The Netherlands

Original canvas. Minor stretchermarks at the lower edge, otherwise this work is in good condition.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In the late twenties, Isaac Israels frequently stayed in Italy, sometimes in the company of his girlfriend Sophie de Vries. The fashionable seaside resort of the Lido, on Gulf of Venice in the Northeast of Italy, became an important source of inspiration for him. The beaches near the famous Hotel de Bains, backdrop of Thomas Mann's famous novel Tod in Venedig, were at that time a gathering place for the beau monde. In the late twenties Israels frequently worked on the beaches of the Lido, where he stayed in Hotel Villa Regina.

Compared to his paintings of Scheveningen beach, the Italian seaside scenes show a different and more southern light. The present lot, depicting ladies under sunshades, is a striking example of this. It exemplifies what A.M. Hammacher wrote in his book Amsterdamsche Impressionisten en hun Kring (1941): 'Isaac Israels draws with light, rather nervous strokes and stripes. Everything is somewhat loosely connected. He indicates things, quickly and briefly, yet sufficient to register what his penetrating observation has found important'.

The present lot can be compared to a similar version in the collection of the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, illustrated in A. Erftemeijer, Israels aan zee. Hollandse en Italiaanse strandtaferelen van Isaac Israels (1865-1934), Haarlem 2007, p. 64.