Israëls, Jozef [key], 1824–1911, Dutch genre painter. In Amsterdam he painted somber and moving scenes from the life of the Dutch fishermen and peasantry, for which he soon became famous. After 1870 he lived at The Hague. His dramatic use of silvery-gray light is expressive of the melancholy character of his themes. Israëls was equally proficient in oil and watercolor and was an accomplished etcher. Among his best-known works are The Zandvoort Fisherman, Toilers of the Sea, and David Singing before Saul (all: Amsterdam) and Expectation (Metropolitan Mus.). His son, Isaäc Israëls, 1865–1934, a painter of the social life of his day, was greatly influenced in style by the impressionists. Representative works are at The Hague.
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