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ISAAC ISRAELS
1865-1934
THE PERFORMANCE
Signed lower right, inscribed A142 and dated 1972 on an exhibition sticker on the stretcher on the reverse
Oil on canvas
100 by 75 cm.; 39 1/4 by 29 1/2 in.
provenance
Formerly in the Collection of A.B. Boesaard, Amsterdam
Formerly in the Collection of P.J. Glerum, Amsterdam
Private Collection, Amsterdam
S$175000-225000
US$106060-136360

Isaac Israels arrived in Indonesia in 1921, at the age of 56, a late stage of his artistic career. During his extended visit to the Indies, he was introduced to the courts of the Mangkunegara and Susuhunan in Surakarta who commissioned him to paint several portraits. Naturally he was able to observe many aspects of court life including the royal dances, bedhaya and serimpi. Israels spent only a brief period in the Indies, and returned to the West in 1922 with at least thirty paintings and many sketches, all of which are sophisticated observations of an Impressionist -a record of the unique light and visual richness of Indonesian life. He was a well-documented believer in art for art's sake, and his letters show him not to have been a sentimental person, never falling under the spell of the Indonesian islands. In this twilight phase of his life and career, the relatively brief sojourn in the Indies has been called a 'pleasant sunlit episode, rather like a fancy dress game on a sultry summer afternoon.'1 As in his earlier works, Israels was interested more in urban life than in landscapes, and his Javanese paintings express his impressions of the streets and of interiors, from the sinewy grace of a coolie to the aristocratic demeanour of court dancers and musicians.
All Israel's work on the subject of the court has a sense of privileged seclusion and quiet refinement. He was also undoubtedly intrigued by the darkness of Javanese interiors with hints of the bright, glaring daylight piercing through a window or doorway. This painting of a classical dancer before a gamelan orchestra has all the trademark of Israels' artistic qualities. The slowness of movement that is so characteristic of this genre of dance seems perfectly captured, especially in the position of the dancer's right foot, which is raised just slightly off the ground. It is clearly not a formal court dance, as the audience comprises casually seated groups of adults and children. However the stately, high ceilings of the interior suggest a royal venue, perhaps a rehearsal hall.
Although Isaac Israels was always a somewhat detached observer and an outsider in the Indies, he was nevertheless someone who had an innate understanding of human nature and had an incredible eye for capturing a mood or an expression. He was also sensitive enough to have kept away from the stifling world of Dutch colonial society. It is perhaps these qualities, combined with his sublime artistry, that have imbued his Indonesian paintings with a surprising and delightful degree of intimacy.
Notes
1. Ruud Spruit, Indonesian Impressions - Oriental Themes in Western
Painting, Pictures Publishers, Wijk en Aalburg, 1992, p. 26