Artwork
A Young Woman looking out over the Sea
A Young Woman looking out over the Sea is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Isaac Israëls. It dates from 1898 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The sea functions as a symbolic backdrop, often associated with the unknown, transition, or the passage of time in late-nineteenth-century European art.
The painting depicts a solitary young woman standing at a shoreline, her back to the viewer, gazing outward over the sea. The composition emphasizes her silhouette against the horizon, evoking a sense of contemplation or longing rather than direct narrative. The sea functions as a symbolic backdrop, often associated with the unknown, transition, or the passage of time in late-nineteenth-century European art.
Israëls’s focus on a modern, urban woman in a private moment aligns with broader trends in Dutch fin-de-siècle portraiture, where interiority and mood supersede overt storytelling.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1895, this portrait by Isaac Israëls is realized in oil paint applied to a cardboard support. The work measures 61.2 cm in height and 45 cm in width. As a painting classified within the portrait genre, it depicts a solitary female figure.
The selection of cardboard as a substrate rather than traditional canvas or wood panel reflects specific material choices characteristic of the artist's practice during this period in the Netherlands.
History & Provenance
The painting titled A Young Woman looking out over the Sea was created in 1895 by Isaac Israëls using oil paint on cardboard. It is classified as a portrait and was produced in the Netherlands. The work entered the collection of the Rijksmuseum, where it remains today.
A Young Woman looking out over the Sea is an oil paint portrait held in the Rijksmuseum collection under inventory number SK-A-1885. The work was created in the Netherlands in 1895 and has been exhibited at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam in the exhibition "Dutch Masters from the Rijksmuseum" (2015).
Overview
Isaac Israëls painted A Young Woman looking out over the Sea in 1898. Executed in oil on canvas, the work belongs to the Dutch strand of Impressionism that flourished in Amsterdam at the turn of the century. The painting is part of the Rijksmuseum’s permanent collection and exemplifies Israëls’s interest in contemporary, everyday subjects rendered with a light, atmospheric touch.
Context
Israëls was a central figure in the Amsterdam Impressionist circle, which sought to depict modern life with immediacy and coloristic nuance. This work aligns with his broader oeuvre that often features women in everyday settings, rendered with a focus on light, atmosphere, and the subtle emotional states of his subjects.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Isaac Lazarus Israëls (Dutch pronunciation:; 3 February 1865 – 7 October 1934) was a Dutch painter associated with the Amsterdam Impressionism movement.
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