Descended from a poor Jewish family, Jozef Israëls started taking drawing lessons in 1835 at the Academy Minerva in Groningen.
In 1842, he studied in Amsterdam with <a href=" https://findartvalue.com/artist/jan-adam-janzsoon-kruseman">Jan Adam Kruseman</a> (1804-1862) and took lessons at the Royal Academy with <a href=" https://findartvalue.com/artist/jan-willem-pieneman">Jan Willem Pieneman</a>