At the Theatre, Isaac Israels, c. 1895

oil on panel, h 37.5cm × w 32cm × d 9cm More details

Going to the theatre is about seeing and being seen. Here we look through the eyes of the artist at the spirited profile of a fashionably attired young woman. From a pastel of the same subject we know that she is in the Carré Circus Theatre on the Amstel River, which opened in December 1887. Is the young woman simply mesmerized by what she sees on the stage, or is she aware of the painter’s presence after all?