The Amsterdam painter Thérèse Schwartze (1851-1918) was a celebrated portraitist in her time, who combined great talent and technical expertise with a superb head for business. She produced likenesses of the 19th-century Dutch beau monde and members of the royal family in an un-Dutch style, and became a millionaire in the process. She established an international reputation, with countless exhibitions and commissions throughout Europe and the United States.

The apparently effortless brill...