Artwork
Cigarette Smoking Girls
Cigarette Smoking Girls is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Isaac Israëls. It dates from 1900 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Technique & Style
The surface handling reveals a relatively thin application of pigment, allowing underlying brushwork to remain visible, contributing to a sense of immediacy.
The work is an oil painting executed on canvas, reflecting the genre scene tradition of early 20th-century Dutch art. Isaac Israëls employed oil paint to achieve textural nuance in the depiction of adolescent figures engaged in a mundane yet socially charged activity, with the composition emphasizing informal posture and atmospheric lighting. The surface handling reveals a relatively thin application of pigment, allowing underlying brushwork to remain visible, contributing to a sense of immediacy.
Formal qualities include a restrained palette, flattened spatial depth, and a focus on linear contours that align with contemporary stylistic trends in Amsterdam-based painting circa 1900.
History & Provenance
Cigarette Smoking Girls is an oil-on-canvas painting by Isaac Israëls dated to 1900. The work was subsequently owned by Jan F. Esser, and formed part of the Jan Esser collection. It is now held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
The painting is also documented as being held by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands Art Collection and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, indicating its circulation across Dutch public institutions in addition to its Rijksmuseum location.
Cigarette Smoking Girls, an oil-on-canvas genre painting by Isaac Israëls dated 1900, is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. The work, measuring 60 cm in height and 44 cm in width, is also documented as part of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands Art Collection and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and was formerly owned by Jan F. Esser (Jan Esser collection). No specific inventory or accession number is recorded in the available sources, and no exhibition history is documented.
Overview
Created in 1900 by Dutch painter Isaac Israëls, Cigarette Smoking Girls is an oil on canvas that belongs to the genre‑scene tradition. The work is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection and exemplifies Israëls’s focus on contemporary urban life.
Subject & Meaning
The composition presents two women seated in a dimly lit interior. One wears a dark hat accented with a vivid red scarf and leans forward, while the other, partially obscured in shadow, holds a cigarette holder. The intimate setting suggests a moment of private leisure, reflecting early‑20th‑century social habits.
Context
Isaac Israëls was a leading figure in Amsterdam Impressionism, a regional offshoot of French Impressionism that emphasized modern, everyday scenes. This work aligns with his broader interest in depicting contemporary life, particularly the emerging visibility of women in public and semi‑private spaces such as cafés and salons.
Artist & collection
Artist
Isaac Lazarus Israëls (Dutch pronunciation:; 3 February 1865 – 7 October 1934) was a Dutch painter associated with the Amsterdam Impressionism movement.
