From Zandvoort to Tangier: The Artistic and Religious Identities of Jozef Israëls

Abstract

In 1908, Jozef Israels (1824-1911), the well known Dutch artist and prominent member of the Hague School, painted a series of self-portraits. Blurry but recognizable to anyone familiar with Israels’ work, his earlier Biblical painting David and Saul served as the backdrop for the artist’s depictions of himself (Figure 1). In the piece, the elderly painter stands respectfully in the gap between the lounging figure of King Saul on the left and a youthful David playing the harp on the right. Israels’ gentlemanly demeanor is reinforced by respectable attire - a black suit, spectacles, and a gold watch chain. In terms of color and composition, his figure at eighty-four blends in harmoniously with the Biblical scene behind him. The muted colors of both the ancient scene and of Israels’ contemporary figure create a bridge between past and present. Centered between one ancient King and the young man soon to replace him, Israels appeared to self-consciously link himself with this celebrated Biblical past. Upon closer examination, however, Israels advocated association rather than continuity between himself and the two powerful Israelite kings. Decidedly modern in appearance, this European of the early twentieth century had little in common with the ancient figures behind him. Israels understood himself to be not, as his acquaintance Frank Gunsaulus wrote, a relic of the ancient past but rather a Dutch Jew. 1