Friday, December 28, 2018

Thérèse Schwartze paints a portrait

A Dutch portrait painter named Thérèse Schwartze (1851-1918) was invited to paint the daughter of the mayor of a coastal town.


She packed up her portable easel and paints and set up in a temporary studio in the mayor's attic. Fortunately someone took photos of her at work.

The girl sits in a chair facing a high window, supervised by a nursery maid. The artist's back is to the window.


Thérèse Schwartze, Portrait of Geradine
Marguerite van Hardenbroek, 1903
Here's the portrait that resulted from the sessions. 
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4 comments:

  1. Tom HartDecember 28, 2018 at 12:27 PM

    Thank you, James, for sharing these stunning portraits. This is more proof of the sad fact that woman artists have been overlooked and undervalued by collectors, curators and art historians for centuries. I'm a huge fan of John Singer Sargent (as many of us are); the examples posted here could easily hang next to his work without being at all harmed by the comparison.

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  2. James GurneyDecember 28, 2018 at 12:47 PM

    A agree, Tom. I keep running across first-rate artists that are new to me. But I have a feeling she is quite well known in Amsterdam because she painted royal portraits. I owe a debt of gratitude to Maaike Dirkx and Linda Crank, who are dedicated, as I am, to bringing recognition to lesser-known realist painters from the past.

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  3. UnknownDecember 29, 2018 at 11:12 AM

    It looks like the maid is reading a book in the background. I wonder if she was reading aloud to help keep the model occupied

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  4. WendyJanuary 28, 2022 at 8:49 PM

    There is now an English translation of her biography: https://thereseschwartze.com/

    ReplyDelete

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