Meisjeskopje 1834 - 1911

Jozef Israëls sketched this head of a girl using graphite on paper. Israëls was a leading figure in the Hague School, a group of Dutch artists who, in the late 19th century, turned away from the grand historical canvases and portraiture of the established art world. Instead, they focused on the everyday lives of ordinary people, particularly those in rural communities. Israëls himself often depicted fishermen and peasant families, imbuing his images with a sense of dignity and humanity. In its own way, this drawing is part of that same artistic project. It reminds us that the lives of children from working-class backgrounds were as worthy of artistic attention as those of the wealthy elite. To further understand Israëls' work, we might look at the social and economic conditions of the Netherlands at the time. We might explore the rise of social realism in art, as well as the influence of the French Barbizon school on the Hague School artists.