The Marchesa Luisa Casati with a Greyhound

A pale woman with a cloud of dark hair and dramatic eyes, in black satin, poses with a slender greyhound amid swirling brushstrokes. The figure holds the centre of the canvas, and everything around it, from the fall of the light to the setting, is there to bring it forward. Look closely and the details carry as much of its character as the face itself.

Its palette, measured from the canvas, is led by charcoal, with ink and chocolate in support: a low-lit, quietly neutral picture. Its restrained colour lets the drawing and the light carry the picture, and it sits easily with almost any interior. The tall format leads the eye from top to bottom, so the details reward a second and a third look.

A tall canvas like this one suits a narrow wall: a hallway, the space beside a bookcase or a doorway, or the wall between two windows. It brings a little theatre to a room for the autumn season, and keeps its mystery all year. Charcoal and ink are easy to echo in cushions, a throw or a painted wall nearby, and it holds its own in a mixed gallery wall.

Giovanni Boldini made the original in 1908; in the collection it is listed under Modern. It belongs to the modern era, when painters loosened the old rules of drawing and colour to say more with less. This painting is printed to order on gallery-wrapped canvas in 30 × 40 cm or 40 × 60 cm, from the image you see here. The canvas wraps around its frame, so it arrives ready to hang, with no framing needed. Want yourself in it instead? Add a photo and see your portrait free before you order.