THÉRÈSE SCHWARTZE
1851 – Amsterdam – 1918
THE AMERICAN SINGER CHARLES WESLEY PAYNE
oil on canvas, 130 x 110 cm
signed and dated upper right: Th. Schwartze 1900
date:1895-1900
provenance:
the artist’s estate;
the painter Lizzy Ansingh (1875-1959), niece of the artist, Amsterdam;
probably with art dealer Frederik Muller & Co, Amsterdam;
Mr. Ynze Klop (1911-2005), Amsterdam;
Mrs. Jantje Vastenhouw-Klop, inherited from the above, 2025.
exhibited:
Amsterdam, Arti et Amicitiae Najaarstentoonstelling, Oktober 1896;
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Herdenkingstentoonstelling ter ere van Thérèse Schwartze, 1919.
published:
W. Martin, Thérèse van Duyl-Schwarze 1851-1918: Een Gedenkboek, Amsterdam 1920/21, p. 153, ill. p. 110;
C. Hollema and P. Kouwenhoven, Thérèse Schwartze: Painting for a living, Amsterdam 2021, pp. 172-3.
The American singer Charles Wesley Payne is depicted on a large scale, seated on a chair with a red drapery behind him and a landscape-like background. His head is positioned high in the composition, creating a sense of dominance over the viewer. Payne is portrayed wearing an Oriental-style robe, a loose white head covering, and a dagger tucked into a belt around his waist.
Grand, exceptional, and not typically Dutch—these descriptions apply both to the painting and to the artist Thérèse Schwartze. At the time she created this work, she was the most successful Dutch female artist of her era. Schwartze was living and working in an elegant canal house on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam. It was there that she met Payne, who gave a private house concert together with his band, the Fisk Jubilee Singers. This painting was most likely not a commission and therefore differs from most of Schwartze’s work.
The band was formed in 1871 to raise money for Fisk University, a historically Black college in Nashville founded after the Civil War to educate freed African Americans. The group’s name derives from the biblical concept of the Jubilee Year, symbolizing liberation. By performing African American spirituals they spread the knowledge of this musical tradition that had previously been confined largely to Black communities throughout the United States. Spirituals are a Christian musical tradition that originated among enslaved African Americans in the United States in the seventeenth century and are considered the foundation of gospel music. Characterized by strong emotional expression, these songs often draw on Old Testament narratives—particularly the Exodus story—which resonated with enslaved people and served as a source of psychological resilience in the face of systemic oppression. The band became extremely popular and soon after its foundation in the States also gave concerts in Europe. The band exists until today.
When the painting was first exhibited in 1896, it was met with praise in contemporary press reviews. Early accounts of this portrait— describing Payne set against a blue background, wearing a white Ascot tie and a striking red pelargonium in his buttonhole—do not correspond to the painting’s present appearance. Around 1900, the artist probably altered the work, reimagining Payne in an Orientalist costume, to enhance its market appeal.*
This artistic intervention suggests that Schwartze, who drew inspiration from the great painters of the past, engaged in a deliberate visual dialogue with the most renowned portraitist in Dutch history: Rembrandt. The 17th-century painter had achieved considerable success with his Orientalist portraits (fig. 2) and might have served as a source of inspiration to alter this work.
Fig. 1 A photograph of Charles Wesley Payne around 1900
Fig. 2 Rembrandt, Man in a Turban, 1632, oil on canvas, 152.6 x 124.3 cm, Metropolitan Museum New York, inv.no. 20.155.2, Bequest of William K. Vanderbilt 1920.
Thérèse Schwartze was born in 1851 in Amsterdam as the daughter of painter Johan Georg Schwartze, who had grown up in Philadelphia and trained in Düsseldorf. She received her initial artistic education from her father, studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam, and continued her training under Franz von Lenbach and Gabriel von Max in Munich.
In 1876, two years after her father’s death, the twenty-five-year-old artist moved from Munich back to Amsterdam to support her family, consisting of her mother, two sisters, and a brother. Schwartze’s success was exceptional: as a portrait painter, she rapidly attracted clients from the highest social circles. Her personal charm helped secure long-term loyalty among patrons, while she maintained a high public profile by exhibiting regularly in the Netherlands and abroad. Her family managed the household and studio operations, maintained client relations, kept records and accounts, and handled public relations. This organization resulted in a very successful artistic enterprise with a turnover of millions of guilders. The business and atelier were run from their grand residence on the Prinsengracht, and over time the operation expanded to include the two adjoining canal houses.
America played a significant role in Schwartze’s life and career. Her father grew up in Philadelphia and served as Honorary Consul of North America in the Netherlands from 1851 to 1855, introducing her at an early age to American culture and perspectives. This background may explain her interest in American music and her eventual connection with the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Schwartze’s work was exhibited in the United States on at least two occasions: she was rewarded a medal at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and again at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis World’s Fair), where a portrait by her received a gold medal.
Fig. 3 Thérèse Schwartze, Self-portrait, 1888, oil on canvas, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence inv. no 1890.3122.
Schwartze’s career was marked by a continuous sequence of artistic and professional success. In 1881, she was appointed court painter and provided drawing instruction to the wife of Prince Hendrik. In 1883, she became the first woman to serve on the jury of the International Exhibition, Fine Arts section, in Amsterdam. In 1888, she was invited to paint a self-portrait (fig. 3) for the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence. In 1896, she was elevated to the rank of Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau by Queen Emma. Her work was exhibited internationally and received numerous distinctions.
In addition to her great success as an artist, her most significant contribution may lie in her role as a mentor and role model for women artists in the Netherlands. She offered several female artists the opportunity to gain professional experience in her studio, among them her niece and protégé, the artist Lizzy Ansingh, who owned this painting for many years. Schwartze died in 1918, shortly after the death of her husband. Ansingh was one of the organizers of the memorial exhibition held at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in 1919. Payne was included in the selection of Schwartze’s works presented in that exhibition.
*I would like to express my gratitude to Ms. Mayken Jongman, curator 19th century art, at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam for sharing her research files.