Isaac Israëls – The Mille Colonnes restaurant in Amsterdam

by Atelier Liesjes

In a dimly lit café, a waiter in a black jacket, a white shirt and a white apron bends over a table. On the other side of the small table, a woman wearing a dark hat and a light grey suit leans forward, her elbow resting on the tabletop; behind her, the face of a man in a top hat looms into view. To the left sits another figure in a brown-red coat, little more than a blur. On the table is a white tablecloth set with cups and saucers, and in the midst of the darkness a single blue highlight glimmers. The surrounding room dissolves into broad, damp strokes of black, sepia and grey. On the wall behind the figures hangs a mirror that is little more than a few faint streaks. Israëls painted this watercolour with the speed of an eyewitness. The paint has been applied wet-on-wet, the contours are broken up and the forms are defined primarily by the contrast between the dark areas and the ivory white of the apron, collar and tablecloth. This loose style is characteristic of the Impressionism of the Amsterdam School around 1890, in which the moment is more important than the finish. The atmosphere is that of a bustling restaurant in the early evening: warm, smoky, full of movement and conversation. The painting is small in size but grand in gesture. Isaac Israëls (Amsterdam 1865 – The Hague 1934) was the son of Jozef Israëls and grew up amongst the painters of the Hague School. He studied at the art academies in The Hague and Amsterdam and developed a style entirely his own, characterised by swift brushwork, through which he observed city life: cafés, theatres, fashionable women, soldiers and street musicians. His work is represented in the major Dutch museums. A lively, decorative print for an interior with character.