Vrouwenhoofd 1875 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this sketch of a woman's head with pencil on paper sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. It gives us insight into the relationship between the artist and his sitter. The gaze is averted, the head is tilted, and the lines are loose. What does the sketch tell us about the cultural context in which it was made? Israels belonged to a group of Dutch Impressionist painters known as the Amsterdam Impressionists. Like their French counterparts, they were interested in capturing everyday life, but they also saw the expansion of the city, its increasingly diverse population, and its growing entertainment industry. Israels was particularly interested in capturing images of working-class women. He painted and sketched shop girls, seamstresses, and fashion models. By the late 19th century, new artistic institutions such as private art galleries were emerging in Amsterdam. Israels would have exhibited his work there, developing a market for modern painting. Art historians rely on exhibition catalogues, newspaper reviews, and archival sources to understand the contexts in which artists like Israels worked. Studying these sources can enrich our understanding of what art meant in its own time.