44 Isaac Israels (1865-1934) ‘Coiffer Sainte Cathérine’ signed with the artist’s studio stamp ‘Atelier
In ‘Coiffer Sainte Cathérine’, Isaac Israels opens a window onto the refined yet lively world of a Parisian fashion atelier. The painting captures an intimate moment: a seamstress stands behind a young woman, carefully adjusting a hat on her hair. Soft afternoon light filters through large windows, illuminating the warm tones of the crowded studio. It is a scene of craftsmanship and ritual, grounded in the long-standing Parisian tradition of Sainte Catherine and the ‘Catherinettes’. The ‘Fête de Sainte Catherine’, held annually on 25 November, celebrates Saint Catherine, the patron saint of unmarried women. Since the Middle Ages, women had been under her protection. Members of guilds devoted to Saint Catherine were tasked each year with ‘capping’ her statue, adorning it with a newly made headdress. Unmarried women would leave the group once they married, and so ‘coiffer Sainte Catherine’ came to mean ‘still being single at or after the age of twenty-five’. By the late nineteenth century, the custom survived primarily in the Parisian trades of millinery and dressmaking. On Saint Catherine’s Day, unmarried seamstresses - Catherinettes - would attend a ball wearing exuberant hats in the saint’s symbolic colours, yellow and green. This ritual became both a celebration of craftsmanship and a light-hearted declaration of independence, deeply rooted in the life of the fashion ateliers. Israels depicted this festivity on several occasions. The present composition, showing a young woman - presumably of 25 years old - being fitted with a traditional headpiece, is a striking example. The scene unfolds with quiet tenderness and painterly vibrancy, as Israels translates the custom into a modern impression of feminine grace and creative industry. Isaac Israels and some of his contemporaries in Amsterdam distanced themselves from the traditional conventions of academic art dominant by the end of the nineteenth century, aligning instead with the ‘Tachtigers’ - a circle of writers and painters who believed that form must follow feeling, and that emotionally charged subjects demanded an equally expressive technique. Shaped by this philosophy, Israels turned his gaze to the modern city, capturing the pulse of everyday life in streets, cafés, cabarets, and studios with loose, spirited brushstrokes that conveyed the immediacy of experience. His technique, strongly influenced by French Impressionism, led to the enduring renown of the so-called Amsterdam Impressionists, whose work fused metropolitan vibrancy with a distinctly Dutch sense of atmosphere and humanity. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Israels did not paint out of financial necessity but from genuine curiosity and artistic drive. He chose his subjects freely - people at work and at leisure, in parks, on boulevards, or in fashion ateliers - always drawn to the vitality of the human figure in motion. In the absorbed gesture of the seamstress and the quiet anticipation of the sitter, ‘Coiffer Sainte Cathérine’ reveals the harmony between artistry and ritual, between the traditions of the past and the fleeting modernity of Israels’s time. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Israels was introduced by his childhood friend, the portrait painter Thérèse Schwartze (1851-1918), to the Amsterdam fashion house Hirsch & Cie at the Leidseplein. There, he was granted access to the world of haute couture, observing the full spectrum of its activity - from the quiet diligence of the seamstresses to the poised elegance of wealthy clients in the fitting rooms. Israels began sketching and painting these scenes around 1900, fascinated by the interplay of fabric, form, and human presence. In 1904, Israels moved to Paris, establishing his studio at 10 rue Alfred Stevens. As in Amsterdam, he immersed himself in the rhythm of the city, painting its parks, cafés, cabarets, bistros, and fairgrounds, while also frequenting the leading couture houses like Paquin. It was in this environment that he deepened his exploration of the fashion world - a domain that perfectly matched his interest in movement, colour, and the fleeting vitality of modern life. ‘Coiffer Sainte Cathérine’ exemplifies Israels’s painterly immediacy. With vigorous brushwork and a warm, broken palette, he captures the fleeting rhythms of light and gesture. The figures emerge through broad, confident strokes, rendered with economy yet great sensitivity. Israels’s style here reflects his deep engagement with modern life - depicting not idealised beauty, but the beauty of ordinary moments. Through this painting, Israels transforms a simple act of preparation into a timeless celebration of womanhood, craft, and light. It stands as both a portrait of Paris at its most elegant and a testament to Israels’s enduring ability to find beauty in the everyday.
Isaac Israels’ (lower right) oil on canvas, 74x61 cm
€40,000 - €60,000
Provenance: -With Kunsthandel G.J. Scherpel, Bussum, exhibited at ‘Verkoop-tentoonstelling in Pulchri Studio’, 6-15 October 1978 (label attached to the reverse).
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