Schets van het hoofd van een vrouw 1834 - 1911

Jozef Israëls sketched this study of a woman’s head in graphite, sometime during his career in the Netherlands. Israëls, who lived from 1824 to 1911, became known as one of the foremost painters of the Hague School, a circle that advocated a move away from academic painting towards a more naturalistic style. What might a simple sketch tell us about artistic institutions? During the 19th century, academies held sway, emphasizing history painting and portraiture. Yet Israëls and his colleagues sought to depict the lives of ordinary people, particularly those living in rural communities. They established a society called the Hollandsche Teekenmaatschappij, where they could exhibit and sell their watercolors and drawings directly to the public. As art historians, we can look to the archives of such organizations and to period publications to understand how artists challenged the norms of their time. This drawing reflects a broader shift toward social realism, a movement that sought to represent the world as it was, rather than how it should be.