The donkey ride, Scheveningen

One of Israels' favourite themes was the colourful, lively depiction of elegantly dressed girls on donkey-rides, accompanied by a young donkey driver. Thirty-five of the almost hundred paintings he made in Scheveningen have these adorable animals and their riders as their main theme. Most of them were made between 1894 and 1902. These works by Israels are some of his most sought after subjects. The present lot is a beautiful example of this theme. Two blonde girls in attractive white summer dresses,wearing summer hats, are seated askew on their donkeys. The donkey driver follows dressed in a blue tunic with a cap on his head and a stick or whip in his right hand.