Isaac Israels (Amsterdam 1865 - The Hague 1934) Two Javanese dancers Signed l.r. Oil on canvas, 77.1 x 58.9 cm Provenance: - Collection M. Vinke - van der Liet, Nieuwersluis - Auction Christie's Amsterdam, 10 November 1987, lot 330 - Private collection, the Netherlands - By descent to the present owner Exhibition: Centraal Museum, Utrecht, 21 August 1949 - 1953, inv.no. 10404 (on loan by M. Vinke - van der Liet) N.B.: When Israels first encountered with Javanese culture, he was fascinated by the wildly decorated traditional clothing and the exotic sounds: “De Javaantjes zijn prachtig, je moet ze bepaald eens gauw komen zien. […] Ik zit de heele dag mijn hoofd en handen te verdraaien a la Javanaise en ik denk alleen aan tandakken en alang alang!” (The Javanese are beautiful, you should come and see them soon. [...] I am turning my hands a la Javanaise and thinking about tandakken and alang alang all day long!) He was also very impressed by the Indonesian people, which is clearly visible in the beautiful impressionist brush stroke in this painting. When Walter Spies (1895-1942), composer and painter, arrived at the island of Java, he too was blown away by the wonderous gamelan and dance performance, and wrote: "And then it happened: the ancient Imperial gamelan began to play. Quietly at first, drop by drop, with deep earth-shaking strokes of the great gong; so deep that it was quite unnerving. A woman's voice, supple and beautiful, began to sing. Soon others joined in, and then the male chorus entered in reply. And all this was accompanied by a savage jungle of wondrous, crystal-clear steely sounds with woodnotes playing the so-called 'flowers'. Then I was quite beside myself with joy. Never before had I enjoyed music so much.'' Starting Bid : 55000