She became known for the series of seven paintings (and accompanying photo studies) that Breitner made of her in 1893 and 1894 as the girl in red and white kimonos, lying on a sofa and standing in front of a mirror in an oriental interior.

[4] Kwak moved to Amsterdam in 1893 at the age of sixteen with her elder sister Anna.

She and her sister first lived in the Govert Flinckstraat, and then in the Tweede van Swindenstraat in Dapperbuurt.

The two sisters came into contact with the painter Breitner when he had just recovered from an eye infection and had moved into a studio at Lauriergracht.

Breitner kept a meticulous note in a preserved notebook about when and how long she had posed for him, and what amount of money he had given her for it.