Jozef Israëls - The Drowning Man

Beautiful photoengraving of the famous painting "The Drowning Man" by Jozef Israels from 1861, now in the National Gallery in London. The engraving was published by Gebroeders E. & M. Cohen in 1904 to commemorate Jozef Israels's 80th birthday. The work was part of a deluxe set of 50 works by Israels with accompanying texts. This engraving is framed with a mat in a beautiful burl walnut frame. Signed in the lower left corner of the print. The photos show reflections in the glass.

Jozef Israëls (Groningen, January 27, 1824 – The Hague, August 12, 1911) was one of the leading Dutch painters of the Hague School. He was not only a painter, but also produced etchings and lithographs, and wrote. He used the pseudonym J. Maalman.
Israëls was of Jewish descent. From the age of eleven, he took lessons from landscape painter Jacob Bruggink, who was affiliated with the Minerva Academy in Groningen. J.J.G. van Wicheren was his second teacher in 1836, and in 1838 he received painting lessons from Cornelis Bernardus Buijs.
He was barely eighteen when he began his apprenticeship with Jan Adam Kruseman and Jan Willem Pieneman in Amsterdam. He remained there, except for a few interruptions, until 1871. After that, he lived and worked in The Hague.
From 1845 to 1847, he lived in Paris. In the studio of the French artist François-Édouard Picot, he was introduced to Romantic history painting. Louis Gallait and the French-Dutch artist Ary Scheffer also oriented him toward Romanticism. Horace Vernet, Paul Delaroche, and James Pradier also shaped his original work while studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. There, he also met Jan Jongkind and the Barbizon painters.
Back in The Hague, it was his depictions of simple people, particularly those from the fishing life of Zandvoort and Katwijk aan Zee, that would lead to his fame. His selection was somewhat limited, while the atmosphere was dominant. One of his first paintings of fishermen was "Along Mother's Grave" from 1856. His creations include the pathetic "Drowned Fisherman" from 1861, in the National Gallery of London, the romantic "The Cottage Madonna" from 1867, in the Institute of Arts of Detroit, as well as his landscapes such as "After the Storm," also from 1867, in the Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam. Themes from Judaism, such as "Jewish Wedding" from 1903, on loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, at the Jewish Historical Museum, testify to his Jewish background.
After 1871, when he moved to The Hague, he became close friends with Hendrik Willem Mesdag. They were jointly involved in the founding of the Hollandsche Teekenmaatschappij (Dutch Drawing Society) in 1876 and played a prominent role in The Hague's Pulchri Studio. In 1903, along with Willem Maris, they accompanied Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch to his final resting place at the Municipal Cemetery on Kerkhoflaan. On December 12, 1903, Israëls wrote in his diary: "Today, Saturday, my day out, wonderful weather. Saw paintings at Mesdag's that he was working on, and also visited the lady's studio, had a pleasant chat, and talked a lot about composing a painting."
Until 1885, he trained his son Isaac Israëls, who was born in 1865. He wrote about this: "With the Lord's help, he will become a better painter than his father." After 1885, Isaac went his own way in Amsterdam and, like Breitner, became one of the Amsterdam Impressionists.
From 1897 to 1898, Israëls traveled through Spain and subsequently wrote his travelogue, based on his numerous drawings. In 1879, he was made a Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy.