Cowboy te Paard

Isaac Israëls was the son of Jozef Israëls, one of the most important painters of the Hague School, and became a leading figure of Amsterdam Impressionism in his own right. He sold his first painting at sixteen, abandoned the Royal Academy to join the Tachtigers — a group of Dutch writers and artists who insisted style must match emotional intensity — and spent his career painting the streets, cafes, and cabarets of Amsterdam, Paris, and London. He painted a portrait of Mata Hari and won a gold medal at the 1928 Olympics, when painting was a competitive event. Cowboy te Paard (Cowboy on Horseback) is a watercolor — a figure in a wide-brimmed hat sits on a dark horse, rendered in loose, wet washes of brown, ochre, and dusty pink. The background dissolves into broad, unfinished strokes.