Young Italian Woman, with ‘Puck’ the Dog

The signature on this canvas names two cities, Paris and Amsterdam, and both belong to its story. Thérèse Schwartze began it in Paris in 1884, during a stay that was itself unusual, since studying there was as uncommon for a young Dutch woman as trying to make a career as a painter. Her model was Fortunata, one of the many professional Italian models who earned their living posing for artists in Paris at the time.

Schwartze finished the picture back in Amsterdam, and somewhere in between she added the dog. His name, Puck, is painted in the upper right corner. She exhibited the finished canvas in Amsterdam the following year, and in 1897 it came to the Rijksmuseum as a bequest from A. G. van Anrooy of Kampen.