Preparing for the ride, The Hague

Israels painted the present lot in 1881 at the age of sixteen, only three years after entering the The Hague Drawing Academy together with George Hendrik Breitner (1857-1923), Floris Verster (1861-1927) and Marius Bauer (1867-1932). In the same year he succesfully debuted at the 'Tentoonstelling van Levende Meesters' in The Hague with a picture entitled De repetitie van het signaal (Mesdag Collectie, The Hague, inv.no. 152), that was bought by Hendrik Willem Mesdag who recognised his talent at an early stage. Isaac's favorable reception here immediately launched him upon a national and international artistic career. First as a painter of portraits and large-scale military pieces and later as the leading figure of the Amsterdam Impressionists. Although Israels' early work came into being during the heyday of the The Hague School painters, the child prodigy did not blindly adapt their artistic idiom but developed a characteristic style of his own. In contrast to the atmospheric imagery propagated by the painters of the The Hague School, the young artist emphasised the austere quality of his subject-matter.