Jozef Israels was educated at the Amsterdam Academy (1840) and at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, under Vernet and Delaroche. On his return to Amsterdam in 1847, he worked as a historical and religious painter and increasingly, from 1852, concentrated on Dutch history. The work for which he was best known dates from the 1860s, when his brushwork loosened and he developed a soft tonal range of grays and browns (e.g. Maternal Bliss, 1890, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum). In the 1870's he settled in The Hague and became one of the leading members of The Hague School. He has been called the "Dutch Millet" due to his similar subject matter and sympathy for the poor (e.g. Growing Old, 1878, The Hague). During his lifetime Israels won great popularity for his piously sentimental approach to his work. Israels' paintings were especially popular in Britain after Fishermen Carrying a Drowned Man (1861, London, National Gallery) was exhibited at the Royal Academy. His participation in the Paris Exhibition of 1878 cemented Israel's reputation. His son, Isaac (1865-1934) also worked at The Hague, but in a style almost completely independent of his father's. In his later life Israels' work was influenced by his son, towards a lighter, more impressionistic palette. Max Liebermann, his pupil and contemporary, wrote that "Israels first realized himself at an age at which most painters have already produced their best work; and, had he had the misfortune to die at forty, Holland would have been unable to boast of one of her greatest sons." Sight Size: 12 x 15.25 in. Overall Size: 21.25 x 24.75 in.