Woman cooking by Jozef Israels, charcoal drawing with white chalk on paper, signed Jozef Israels at bottom.
Jozef Israels (1824-1911) was born in Groningen of Jewish parents. He studied at the Minerva Academy from the age of eleven, then at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam in the studio of Jan Adam Kruesman.
Between 1845 and 1847, he moved to Paris, where he studied with James Pradier, Horace Vernet and Paul Delaroche.
He moved to The Hague in 1870 and became one of the leading figures of the Haagse School, strongly inspired by the Barbizon School.
Often compared to Jean-François Millet, he also drew his inspiration from scenes of daily life and depictions of the humble members of society.
The drawing we present is fully in this naturalist vein. A housewife is shown cooking pancakes, her face serious and absorbed in her task. Our drawing can be compared with the painting “The Pancakes” in the Cleveland Museum of Arts.
