Philip de László: Master of Elegance
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies as Anne of Bohemia
The Artist’s Method
Lady Duff Gordon, née Lucy Christiana Sutherland
A Mannequin from ‘Lucile’, Lady Duff Gordon’s Fashion House
De László’s Art Materials
Doctor Alfred Cort Haddon
Francis Adam
Alfred Lys Baldry
Queen Marie of Romania, née Princess Marie of Edinburgh
Anny Ahlers as Madame Dubarry
Henry Guinness de Laszlo
Family Life
Philip Alexius de László
Mrs Philip de László, née Lucy Madeleine Guinness
Lucy de László and her Pekingese dog Yang in the garden at Littleworth Corner
Stephen Philip de Laszlo in Spanish Dress in the Garden at Littleworth Corner
Paul and Patrick de Laszlo in Pierrot Costume
John de Laszlo
Lucy de László and her youngest son John
The Grand Manner: de László as Society Portrait Painter
Mrs George Sandys, née Dulcie Redford
Mrs Archie Graham, née Dorothy Shuttleworth
Anne Mabel Olivia Trouton
Violet Bathurst, Lady Apsley, née Violet Meeking
Captain Richard Charles Geers Cotterell
Doctor Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury
Painting for Pleasure
The Fountain of Aesculapius in the Gardens of the Villa Borghese, Rome
Venice, Gondolas, the Customs House and the Giudecca beyond
A Sailing Boat on the Nile, Aswan
View from Carisbrooke Castle towards Newport on the Isle of Wight
Statue of Diana, Goddess of Hunting, in the Gardens at Versailles
Court of Ramses II at Luxor Temple
The Terrace at the Kaiserhof Hotel in Bad Gastein
The Bull from the Grave of Dionysios of Kollytos in the Ancient Cemetery of Kerameikos, Athens
The Gardens of the Hotel Timeo, Taormina, Sicily
The Avenue at Bedales
Eva Frances Guinness
Royal Patronage
Baron Hugo von Reischach
Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, née Princess Alice of Battenberg
The Duchess of York, née Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon
Princess Elizabeth of York
Elisabeta of Greece, Queen of the Hellenes, née Princess Elisabeta of Romania
Bracelet of Princess Marie of Edinburgh
Philip de László: Master of Elegance
Self-portrait
Internment
The Artist's War (1914-1919)
Hudson Ewbanke Kearley, 1st Viscount Devonport
Sir Philip Sassoon, 3rd Baronet Sassoon
Lieutenant James Robert Dundas McEwen
Medals awarded Lieutenant James Robert Dundas McEwen
Lieutenant John Helias Finnie McEwen
Theodore Bruno Kittel and Friedrich Wilhelm Braune Playing Chess at Islington Internment Camp
The Lamentation of Christ
Patrick David de Laszlo
John Adolphus de Laszlo
A Japanese Doll and a Bunch of Grapes on a Silver Dish
Littleworth Corner in the Snow from the Garden
The Creative Force
Dress
Catalogue
Sudbury Gallery
Timothy & Mary Clode Exhibition Gallery
Catalogue
Philip de László: Master of Elegance
Mocking of Christ
Internment Sketchbook
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
1937
Oil on canvas
De László expressed his desire to paint the Duke of Connaught, son of Queen Victoria, after meeting him at the London home of the Countess of Antrim. Sittings took place in October 1937 at Bagshot Park, the eighty-seven-year-old Duke’s home, south of Windsor. He wears his robes as a Knight of the Garter and the portrait was given to the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, where the sitter served as President between 1911 and 1942.
The artist died just a month later on 22 November 1937; the Duke of Connaught survived him by more than four years. The Duke of Gloucester unveiled the portrait at the Royal Society of Arts and the press described it as the last portrait de László completed. Although de László had been working on other portraits at the time, the Duke’s signature was the last in the artist’s Sitters’ Book.
RSA, London
Oil on canvas
De László expressed his desire to paint the Duke of Connaught, son of Queen Victoria, after meeting him at the London home of the Countess of Antrim. Sittings took place in October 1937 at Bagshot Park, the eighty-seven-year-old Duke’s home, south of Windsor. He wears his robes as a Knight of the Garter and the portrait was given to the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, where the sitter served as President between 1911 and 1942.
The artist died just a month later on 22 November 1937; the Duke of Connaught survived him by more than four years. The Duke of Gloucester unveiled the portrait at the Royal Society of Arts and the press described it as the last portrait de László completed. Although de László had been working on other portraits at the time, the Duke’s signature was the last in the artist’s Sitters’ Book.
RSA, London
Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies as Anne of Bohemia
1933Oil on canvas
In 1933 Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies starred as Anne of Bohemia in Gordon Daviot’s Richard of Bordeaux, playing opposite Sir John Gielgud as Richard II. Her vivaciousness and subtlety of expression led her to be asked to pose in costume for Painting a Portrait by de László a book commissioned by The Studio magazine. The volume provides an important record of de László’s artistic method described in his own words.
The portrait was painted in the frame as de László believed it was an integral part of the portrait and should be there from the beginning. He sourced antique examples where possible or alternatively commissioned modern carved reproductions.
Private Collection
Lady Duff Gordon, née Lucy Christiana Sutherland
1913
Oil on board
This oil study is typical of those painted by de László to illustrate the planned composition for his sitter, in this case the British couturier Lady Duff Gordon. These studies were the second part of his artistic process, preceded by drawings made on the sitter’s first visit to the studio. They were painted quickly and freely and enabled the artist to judge the effect of the colour scheme for the finished portrait. He used them as a record of his intention before painting directly onto the blank canvas in its frame set on his easel next to the subject.
Private Collection
A Mannequin from ‘Lucile’, Lady Duff Gordon’s Fashion House
1927Oil on canvas
In 1927 the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation filmed de László painting this portrait for its weekly newsreel. He selected as his model a mannequin from the fashion house Maison Lucile, founded by his friend and artistic collaborator Lady Duff Gordon.
The film is about seven minutes long and shows the artist outside his studio at 3 Fitzjohn’s Avenue holding his palette before moving inside to demonstrate his process. He is shown progressing a portrait from the initial compositional drawing in his sketchbook to the finished painting on canvas.
Private Collection
De László’s Art Materials
c. 1937These were left in the artist’s studio at the time of his death on 22 November 1937.
He travelled relentlessly fulfilling commissions and required materials that could
Be easily transported.
“I am very anxious to keep my colour always clean, and for a clean touch a clean brush is necessary…for the sake of purity of colour I avoid, as far as possible mixing more than two colours together at any time.”
“Poppy oil is a slow drier and that is the reason why I prefer it. I like my painting to keep wet as long as possible so that I can finish straight away the part of the picture I am working on before the paint dries.”
Private Collection
Doctor Alfred Cort Haddon
1925Oil on canvas
De László painted Dr Alfred Cort Haddon (1855–1940) holding a rare skull, indicating his position as an eminent anthropologist. The artist admired the intensity of interest and respect his sitter gave the skull and his deep enthusiasm for his subject.
De László presented the portrait to the University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology following the commission of another portrait of Dr Haddon by friends and pupils for Christ’s College, Cambridge, on the occasion of his seventieth birthday and his retirement from the post of Reader in Anthropology and Ethnology, which he had held for twenty-five years. De László painted another portrait of Haddon the same year which he gave to the sitter’s family. This was characteristic of the artist for sitters he particularly admired.
On loan from the Haddon Library, Cambridge University
Francis Adam
1935Oil on canvas
Francis Adam (1879–1961) was a leading silversmith and metalworker whom de László commissioned to make a number of items including a fire screen and a candlestick. This portrait was one half of an artistic exchange, between two masters who admired each other’s work, for seven keys bearing de László’s coat of arms.
De László painted Adam at work holding his hammer and a silver cup. Both artists were born in Hungary and studied in Vienna and Paris before moving to London. Adam became a British citizen in 1931 and anglicised his name from Ádám Ferenc. His notable commissions include the ornamental decoration on the gates of the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh and the silver cup in the present portrait, which was commissioned by a city livery company and shown at the Royal Academy exhibition of modern craftsmanship in 1936.
Private Collection
Alfred Lys Baldry
1918Oil on canvas
De László’s friendship with the art historian and critic Alfred Lys Baldry (1858–1939) began in 1911 when Baldry wrote his first article about the artist in The Studio magazine. Nearly one hundred and fifty letters in the artist’s archive attest to the importance of their friendship as they discussed the exhibitions they visited. Baldry was also a mediating influence on his friend, repeatedly encouraging him to rest and enjoy painting for painting’s sake, away from his relentless schedule of commissions and resultant travel.
During de László’s internment in the First World War, Baldry visited the artist after his release to a nursing home in May 1918. This permission was previously only granted to the artist’s wife and children. This portrait was painted in November that year. Baldry was of Spanish descent which may have prompted de László to paint him in this 17th-century costume he kept in his studio.
Private Collection
Queen Marie of Romania, née Princess Marie of Edinburgh
1924Oil on canvas
This is one of de László’s most regal portraits, painted on Queen Marie’s official state visit to London in 1924. Swathed in cloth of gold, she wears a Cartier tiara purchased from Grand Duchess Vladimir after the Revolution. At its centre is a 137-carat sapphire, flanked by six matching stones. The sapphire pendant on her sautoir necklace weighed some 478 carats and was a gift from her husband King Ferdinand.
Princess Marie was the daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, and Grand Duchess Marie, the daughter of Tsar Alexander II. In 1893 she married Prince Ferdinand of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Crown Prince of Romania, who ascended the throne in 1914. De László visited Bucharest in 1936 to paint Queen Marie and other members of the Romania Royal Family.
On loan from the Peleş National Museum
Anny Ahlers as Madame Dubarry
1933Oil on canvas
The German actress and singer Anny Ahlers (1906–1933) came to London in 1932 to appear at His Majesty’s Theatre in the musical comedy The Dubarry. Sir Merrik Burrell saw her perform and was moved to commission a half-length portrait in costume from de László. The artist found his subject so inspiring that he painted a full-length instead, giving him the opportunity to paint the expansive layers of fabric of her dress. Burrell declared it a “tribute of one artist to another.”
Frequently overworked, Ahlers suffered from bouts of depression and on 14 March 1933, aged only twenty-six, she died of a fall from the balcony of her London hotel room. The portrait was unfinished and de László completed it with Burrell’s daughter posing in the costume. It was exhibited to great acclaim at the Knoedler Gallery that June and coloured reproductions were sold in aid of the Artists’ General Benevolent Institution. De László waived his honorarium for the portrait, instead offering it as a tribute to the actress’ genius.
Private Collection
Henry Guinness de Laszlo
1910Oil on board
Between July and September 1910, de László and his young family holidayed in Tutzing, just south-west of Munich on the shores of Lake Starnberg in the shadow of the Alps. They were joined at the Villa Johanna by Lucy’s sisters Eva and Grace Guinness. Henry, the artist’s eldest son, was nine years old when this portrait was painted.
As was typical with de László family holidays, the artist also painted portraits of his son Paul and his sister-in-law Grace.
Private Collection
Philip Alexius de László
1925Oil on canvas
De László painted or drew some thirty self-portraits during his career. This example was painted as a gift for the 6th Duke of Portland, one of the artist’s most important British patrons. De László painted some twenty portraits of the Cavendish-Bentinck family between 1911 and 1937. He was a regular guest at Welbeck Abbey, the family seat in Nottinghamshire where the Duke created a “László Room” and hung many of these portraits.
Private Collection
Mrs Philip de László, née Lucy Madeleine Guinness
1918Oil on canvas
The artist’s frequent travels to fulfil commissions left Lucy primarily to raise their five sons. Her quiet, steadfast and thoughtful character provided an ideal counterpoint to her husband’s volatile temperament with his frequent frustration and outbursts in the pursuit of artistic perfection. Despite this, their marriage was exceptionally strong and Lucy always believed in de László’s genius and supported his accomplishments until his death.
De László painted this intimate portrait of his wife while under house arrest at a nursing home in Ladbroke Gardens, London, during his internment. Their enforced separation had been devastating and this portrait reflects the love and happiness they felt at being reunited.
Private Collection
Lucy de László and her Pekingese dog Yang in the garden at Littleworth Corner
1928Oil on board
The family had a series of characterful Pekingese dogs punctuating their home life between 1908 and 1937. In this peaceful conversation piece, Yang is shown curled up on his cushion next to Lucy on a bench at Littleworth Corner, Buckinghamshire, a place of refuge for the de László family during the First World War. They continued to stay there for many years and were considering purchasing it from their solicitor Sir Charles Russell at about this time.
Private Collection
Stephen Philip de Laszlo in Spanish Dress in the Garden at Littleworth Corner
1919Oil on canvas
In this portrait, the Spanish costume worn by de László’s second son Stephen can also be seen in the portrait of Alfred Lys Baldry in this exhibition. It remains in the collection of a descendant of the artist. Stephen is standing in the garden of Littleworth Corner.
The 17th-century Spanish painter Diego Velázquez was an influential figure for young artists studying in Paris in the 1880s and 1890s. De László had a reproduction of the painter’s self-portrait in his studio, seen there in an early photograph of the artist, suggesting an ambition to follow in the footsteps of his idol.
Private Collection
Paul and Patrick de Laszlo in Pierrot Costume
1916Oil on panel
The de László family spent April and May 1916 at Melbreck in Tilford, home of Lucy’s distant cousin Professor Frederick Trouton. The families were very close and the artist had painted or drawn three members of the Trouton family in military uniform the previous year; making this portrait a stark contrast to world events.
Paul and Patrick were the artist’s third and fourth sons and their resemblance is striking. The blue Guinness eyes are particularly bright against their pale faces and red hair, dressed in classic white Pierrot costumes. These first appeared on the stages of Paris in the late 17th century and were often depicted in paintings and theatricals in England, Italy and France in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the First World War there were many troupes of Pierrots in British regiments for the soldiers’ entertainment. It was also a popular children’s costume.
Private Collection
John de Laszlo
1915Oil on canvasboard
This portrait of de László’s youngest son recalls 18th century portraits of children by Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. They were influenced by new ideas of the inherent goodness of the child espoused by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who reasoned that childhood was an age of innocence.
Painted during the early months of the First World War, the portrait contrasts sharply with the disasters of war that consumed the press and every-day conversation. The artist was working intensely at the time, and needed to escape to the countryside where he rented a house called Hammondswood in Tilford, Surrey. This was near the home of Lucy’s sister Eva. The artist’s children enjoyed the freedom of playing in the surrounding countryside away from their more formal life in London. De László joined his family at weekends and took the opportunity to experiment with different styles of painting.
Private Collection
Lucy de László and her youngest son John
1914Oil on canvasboard
John was the baby of the family and much loved by his parents for his engaging character and sweet looks. The soft toy the four-year-old boy is holding is most probably Peter Rabbit, one that Lucy brought home from Paris on 18 June 1914. The portrait was in the artist’s studio and admired by Dowager Queen Alexandra, consort of Edward VII, when she visited to see the portraits of her brother King George I of Greece and her Greek relations. She attended with her sister Maria Feodorovna, Dowager Empress of Russia, and her sister-in-law Olga, Queen-Mother of Greece, née Grand Duchess of Russia.
It was exhibited at the artist’s retrospective held at the Charpentier Gallery in Paris in 1931, one of his largest and most important shows which included many of his greatest works from across his career.
Private Collection
Mrs George Sandys, née Dulcie Redford
1916Oil on canvas
De László was privileged to view artistic masterpieces in private collections throughout Europe while staying with his royal and aristocratic sitters. His extraordinary visual memory influenced his compositions throughout his career, although his portraits are rarely direct quotations of famous paintings. This portrait of Mrs George Sandys is inspired by Van Dyck’s portrait of Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle, which de László saw while staying at Wentworth Woodhouse painting Countess Fitzwilliam and her family.
Although Britain was entering the second year of the First World War when Mrs Sandys was painted, there was no shortage of demand for Grand Manner portraits. In 1916 de László painted six full-length or nearly full-length portraits in this style.
Private Collection
Mrs Archie Graham, née Dorothy Shuttleworth
1917Oil on canvas
De László designed this dress for Mrs Archie Graham, which was characteristic of the artist. He sent sitters detailed descriptions of the fabrics he wanted and identified old master paintings that inspired his compositions. For this portrait he chose a palette very similar to Gainsborough’s portrait of Countess Howe, which he knew in the collection of Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, a cousin of his wife Lucy.
Once the artist and sitter had agreed on the design, the dress was made by a dressmaker and in this instance cost £50. This deeply shocked the sitter’s mother-in-law when she received the bill at Airthrey Castle, the family home near Stirling. They were leading a frugal existence then, as eight of her sons were fighting in the First World War, and the cost of living was increasing dramatically.
On loan from the sitter's granddaughter
Anne Mabel Olivia Trouton
1910Oil on canvas
De László’s wife Lucy recalled that this portrait was finished on 4 June 1910 and the artist declared it was one of the best things he had painted. This was an opinion he maintained for the rest of his life and included the portrait in his final exhibition at the Wildenstein Gallery, London, which opened two days after his death on 23 November 1937.
De László was especially creative in his compositions for portraits of children and this example is reminiscent of English 18th-century portraiture, which emphasised the sitter’s innocence and childish grace. ‘Olive’ Trouton was the daughter of Professor Frederick Trouton, a Guinness cousin of Lucy’s. Their families were very close and their children spent much time together in the countryside near Tilford in Surrey, where they were living before the First World War.
Private Collection
Violet Bathurst, Lady Apsley, née Violet Meeking
1926Oil on canvas
The sitter was an exceptional horsewoman and is depicted heroically posed against a landscape in hunting dress. Fox hunting before the First World War was a sport in which men and women rode alongside each other as equals. She is wearing a ‘Busvine,’ a ladies side-saddle riding habit named for J. Busvine & Co., the premier tailors for sporting women.
In 1930 Lady Apsley broke her back in a hunting accident while out with the Vale of White Horse hounds and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Her condition did not affect her strength of character. She served as Group Commander of the Auxiliary Territorial Service and National Chair of the British Legion. When her husband was killed on active service in Malta in 1942, she contested and won his seat as Conservative MP for Bristol Central in a 1943 by-election. Though her accident prevented her from riding again, she published several books on the subject.
Private Collection
Captain Richard Charles Geers Cotterell
1931Oil on canvas
Captain Cotterell is depicted in the ceremonial uniform of the Royal Horse Guards (Blues and Royals). The Life Guards and Blues and Royals are the two regiments that today make up the Household Cavalry and are considered the most prestigious in the British Army due to their role as the monarch’s official bodyguard. They escort the sovereign on State occasions like the Opening of Parliament and Trooping the Colour.
The sitter had a distinguished military career with the Royal Horse Guards. During the Second World War he commanded the 76th Shropshire Yeomanry Medium Regiment in the Middle East and Italy, where he was mentioned in despatches.
Private Collection
Doctor Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury
1937Oil on canvas
This is one of de László’s final portraits in the Grand Manner style and shows no diminution in skill despite being painted in the last months of the artist’s life. De László saw this commission as an important historical record of the man who crowned King George VI on 12 May 1937, and he knew that it would hang at Lambeth among portraits of Archbishops of the previous five centuries.
Archbishop Lang was the first Church of England Archbishop to wear a mitre since the Reformation. His Anglo-Catholic views and association of the mitre with Catholic symbolism gave its presence in the portrait particular significance. This is one of three portraits de László painted of the Archbishop. Given their long association it was fitting that on 26 November 1937 Lang presided over the artist’s funeral service at St Margaret’s, Westminster, the 12th-century church next to Westminster Abbey.
The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church Commissioners, Lambeth Palace, London
The Fountain of Aesculapius in the Gardens of the Villa Borghese, Rome
1923Oil on canvasboard
De László and his wife Lucy enjoyed a holiday in Algeria in late February 1923, their first since the end of the First World War. While there the artist received news from Rome that Benito Mussolini had agreed to sit for a portrait. He had been elected Italy’s youngest ever Prime Minister the previous year.
During periods between painting the man who would become ‘Il Duce’, de László found time to paint the local scenery, including this view of the Fountain of Aesculapius in the extensive gardens of the Borghese. The fountain had long attracted visiting artists and was sketched by J.M.W. Turner during his visit to the city just over a hundred years earlier in 1819.
Private Collection
Venice, Gondolas, the Customs House and the Giudecca beyond
1926Oil on board
This study is not dated but a letter from the artist’s wife to their son Paul, sent from Venice in 1926, suggests it may have been painted at that time. De László made five visits to Venice: in 1889 for a period of study cut short by illness; 1907 when his wife’s portrait Lucy with a Violin won the Gold Medal at the Venice Biennale; and for holidays in 1923, 1926 and 1930. Lucy describes the atmosphere of the city that inspired many generations of artists: “Venice is too wonderful to express in words. The sun, the water, the gleaming Palazzos, the Church bells, & the warm sun – all is just beautiful!”
Private Collection
A Sailing Boat on the Nile, Aswan
1929Oil on board
This scene was painted at Aswan during their visit to Egypt in 1929. Lucy described the moment in her diary: “A perfectly wonderful sunset playing now gold, now glowing red, now pale mauve & blue, played before us – it was amazing. Laczi painted first one effect, then another...all passed so quickly…the views with boats passing was so quiet & lovely, dreamy.”
Private Collection
View from Carisbrooke Castle towards Newport on the Isle of Wight
1926Oil on canvasboard
From 1913 Carisbrooke Castle was the home of Princess Beatrice (1857–1944), youngest child of Queen Victoria and Governor of the Isle of Wight from 1896 until the end of her life. In August 1926 the artist and Lucy stayed as her guests. This view was painted from the earth ramparts of the castle’s western defensive wall built by Governor Sir George Carey during the reign of Elizabeth I. The artist captured the expansive views seen in all directions from the castle’s raised position virtually at the centre of the island.
The mediaeval castle’s connection to a poignant moment in English history would have appealed to the artist. Charles I was imprisoned there for fourteen months before his execution in 1649. Two of his youngest children were later held there, Prince Henry and Princess Elizabeth, who died only weeks after her arrival.
Private Collection
Statue of Diana, Goddess of Hunting, in the Gardens at Versailles
1928Oil on board
De László and Lucy stayed at Versailles over Easter in 1928 and again in October. The palace and grounds inspired the artist to paint at least five landscape studies and three paintings of the statue of Diana, goddess of hunting.
Lucy recorded this study in her diary on 4 October: “Glorious weather & P. has painted 5 pictures of the Park. Lovely Diana is the most lovely & dear Laczi has given it to me – quite by surprise he did this! Have been sitting beside him & reading “Napoleon” & also watching him paint. P. in good humour & enjoying it all so much…One wants to live here to absorb the beauty of the place. The subtle combination of Art & nature.”
Private Collection
Court of Ramses II at Luxor Temple
1929Oil on canvas
In January 1929 de László travelled to Cairo to paint King Fuad I of Egypt and his son, Prince Farouk. When these commissions were completed, the artist was joined by his wife Lucy and son Paul and they journeyed along the Nile visiting Karnak, Luxor and Aswan. The de Lászlós immersed themselves in the new experiences the country offered and visited markets and temples, met a tribe of the Bisharin people and made excursions to the Aswan Dam riding camels. Many of these adventures were captured on film using their Kodak Ciné-B camera and survive in the De Laszlo Archive Trust Film Archive.
The artist was so inspired by Egyptian scenery and people that he painted at least seventeen pictures. The clarity of light and skies presented new artistic challenges and he revelled in capturing their effects on the bleached stones of the ancient temples and the desert scenery.
Private Collection
The Terrace at the Kaiserhof Hotel in Bad Gastein
1935Oil on board
In March 1935 de László travelled to Budapest, the city of his birth, to paint Admiral Horthy, Regent of Hungary. He was warmly received and stayed at the Ritz, in the same suite where Edward, Prince of Wales, had stayed a few weeks before. Between March and June the artist painted or drew some twenty-nine portraits, travelling between London and Paris. This punishing schedule took its toll and between June and September he and Lucy rested in Bad Gastein and Grossgmain in the mountains not far from Salzburg.
Of the eight landscape studies de László made during this time, most remained in the artist’s personal collection and were recorded in the Studio Inventory made after his death in November 1937.
Private Collection
The Bull from the Grave of Dionysios of Kollytos in the Ancient Cemetery of Kerameikos, Athens
1936Oil on canvasboard
In early 1936 de László travelled to Bucharest to paint portraits of members of the Romanian Royal Family Lucy later joined him there and they travelled to Constantinople and the Holy Land before returning to England via Athens.
The artist described painting this picture and a study of the Erectheion on the Acropolis on 23 April. The sculpture of the bull is from the tomb of Dionysios of Kollytos in the ancient cemetery of Kerameikos to the northwest of the Acropolis and dates to c.345–350 B.C. The original is now in the Karameikos Archaeological Museum and replaced with a modern replica.
Private Collection
The Gardens of the Hotel Timeo, Taormina, Sicily
1933Oil on canvasboard
In 1930 de László’s friend and amateur artist Vilmos Ruttkay wrote, “you ought to come here [to Taormina], from an artist’s point of view this is one of the most beautiful spots in Europe. I see painters with their paint boxes and stools going about the place every day, they come here, from all parts of the Globe!” Three years later de László and Lucy followed his advice and stayed at the Hotel Timeo in Taormina for two weeks in early March 1933. The hotel and gardens are still there, nestled into the hills of the east coast of Sicily looking out over the Mediterranean in the shadow of Mount Etna.
This picture was included in de László’s last exhibition at Wildenstein & Co. in London, which opened two days after his death. It was also one of those kept by Lucy as a memory of their cherished moments of leisure together.
Private Collection
The Avenue at Bedales
1937Oil on panel
De László experienced heart trouble for many years and in August 1936 suffered a severe attack of angina. His doctor, Lord Dawson of Penn, encouraged rest although it was not at all in de László’s nature. The decision was made to rent Bedales House near Lingfield, Haywards Heath, for the summer of 1937 so friends and family and their new grandchildren could visit peacefully away from the demands of patrons in London.
The day before he left Bedales on 28 September de László wrote: “We would have loved to stay on here just now for at least another fortnight, when Nature is changing into her beautiful golden garment. I would have loved to sit out and sketch, but if we may be so blessed, we hope to spend next summer here and will then arrange to remain for a longer period.” Less than two months later he suffered a fatal heart attack and died on 22 November.
Private Collection
Eva Frances Guinness
1902Chalk on paper
This portrait drawing of de László’s sister-in-law Eva Guinness by the glow of candlelight reflects the stormy atmosphere of the holiday the artist took with friends and family in Brittany in summer 1902. Lucy recorded difficulties in their early years of marriage with great honesty in her diary: “I must still more rigidly act up to the fact, of clearing our daily path of all irritations to him...When F. is present, my time for the most part is not my own – everything seems to go with the current of what he wants to do & of course I can’t be happy if he is not.”
Eva was just two years older than her sister and provided constant caring and support for Lucy and family until her death in 1930. The children were especially close to her and stayed at The Willows, her home in Tilford, Surrey, during their parents’ frequent absences from home.
Private Collection
Baron Hugo von Reischach
1899Oil on board
This portrait is representative of the close links between the German Imperial and English Royal Families. Baron Hugo von Reischach wears the uniform of Hofmarshall (Comptroller of the Household) to the Dowager Empress Friedrich, whom he served in this capacity from 1888 until her death in 1901. In 1905 German Emperor Wilhelm II appointed him Oberstallmeister (Master of the Horse).
The theatricality of this portrait shows clear evidence of the artist’s first visit to England in 1898 when he admired the 18th-century school of British portrait painters. He began to create loosely painted study portraits that capture fleeting expressions of character and movement. This was to prove a hallmark of his success in England following his move to London in 1907.
Private Collection
Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, née Princess Alice of Battenberg
1907Oil on canvas
In July 1907, just after the success of de László’s first solo exhibition in England at the Fine Art Society in London and the newly achieved patronage of Edward VII, de László was invited to paint Princess Alice. There were close links through marriage between the English and Greek Royal Families and de László painted many portraits of them throughout his career.
Princess Victoria Alice Elizabeth Julia Marie of Battenberg was the eldest child of Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Her brother Prince Louis Mountbatten was uncle to her son Prince Philip, who married Princess Elizabeth of York, whose portrait is included in this exhibition.
Lent by His Majesty The King
The Duchess of York, née Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon
1925Oil on canvas
De László has captured the vivacious warmth that endeared the future Queen Elizabeth to the British public and made her such a beloved figure for the next eighty years. This portrait was painted in the second year of her marriage to Prince Albert, Duke of York, second son of George V.
This is one of the artist’s most widely illustrated, exhibited and copied portraits and the artist’s archive contains many letters from people seeking a signed photograph of the painting. Years later Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother recalled de László draping her with a swathe of blue material from his studio and how he painted the “marble shoulder.” She enjoyed sitting for him as he painted quickly and kept her entertained with stories of the people he had painted and places visited.
Lent by His Majesty The King
Princess Elizabeth of York
1933Oil on canvass
On 27 May 1933 de László wrote: “I am just beginning a portrait of the little Princess Elizabeth, the grand-daughter of the King, and daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York, and a most intelligent and beautiful little girl of seven years old. She is enormously popular, and this picture will be included in the exhibition together with those of her parents, and her grandparents, the Earl and Countess of Strathmore. As you know, the little girl is at present looked upon as the future Queen of Great Britain.”
Like her mother’s portrait in this exhibition, Princess Elizabeth’s was a great success and widely reproduced. She ascended the throne in 1953 and at the time of her death in 2022 was one of only two de László sitters still living.
Lent by His Majesty The King
Elisabeta of Greece, Queen of the Hellenes, née Princess Elisabeta of Romania
1924Oil on canvas
This portrait made a bold statement of royalty at an uncertain time for the Greek Royal Family. Queen Elisabeta and her husband King George II of Greece were forced into exile in December 1923 and a republic declared on 23 March 1924. They took refuge in London and stayed with King George V at Sandringham, then moved to Paris where this portrait was painted in September. It has only recently been traced after spending almost 100 years in an unknown private collection.
Private Collection
Bracelet of Princess Marie of Edinburgh
1878This gold bracelet was given to Princess Marie by her father Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and contains miniature portraits of the future Queen Marie of Romania and her siblings.
On loan from the NMHR
Elisabeta of Greece, Queen of the Hellenes, née Princess Elisabeta of Romania
1924
Oil on canvas
Private Collection
This portrait made a bold statement of royalty at an uncertain time for the Greek Royal Family. Queen Elisabeta and her husband King George II of Greece were forced into exile in December 1923 and a republic declared on 23 March 1924. They took refuge in London and stayed with King George V at Sandringham, then moved to Paris where this portrait was painted in September. It has only recently been traced after spending almost 100 years in an unknown private collection.
The emerald earrings worn by Queen Elisabeta were a wedding gift from Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia to her daughter Grand Duchess Olga on her marriage to King George I of Greece in 1867 and remain part of the Greek Crown Jewels.
Self-portrait
1925Oil on canvas
Private Collection
Hudson Ewbanke Kearley, 1st Viscount Devonport
1914Oil on canvas
Hudson Ewbanke Kearley, 1st Viscount Devonport (1856–1934) was one of de László’s sponsors for his British naturalisation in 1914. Throughout the artist’s arrest and internment he worked tirelessly on his behalf, arguing his case to Home Secretary Sir George Cave. It was due in part to his efforts, and those of Lord Sheffield, Sir Austen Chamberlain, Lord Lee of Fareham and the Earl of Selborne, that de László was released from a nursing home to house arrest at Littleworth Corner in December 1918 and finally exonerated.
Lord Devonport served as a member of Lloyd George’s War Cabinet during the First World War and was painted wearing the robes and court dress of a Privy Councillor. This portrait was rejected by the Royal Academy in summer 1915 on the grounds that de László was born in Hungary, a country then at war with Britain.
Viscount Devonport, with thanks to Cranleigh School, Surrey
Sir Philip Sassoon, 3rd Baronet Sassoon
1915Oil on canvas
On the declaration of war on 4 August 1914, de László became extremely busy responding to an intense demand for portraits from serving officers and their families. Between 1914 and 1917 he completed nearly eighty ‘khaki’ portraits. This is one of the artist’s most successful, alongside those of John and James McEwen in this room.
Sir Philip Sassoon (1888–1939) had recently attended the 1 December 1914 meeting at the Château Demont in Merville in France between King George V, the President of France Raymond Poincaré, Maréchal Foch and Generals Rawlinson and Joffre. He was a fluent French speaker and his connections and natural diplomacy made his presence invaluable. Soon after the meeting Sassoon was appointed Private Secretary to Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, Commander in Chief of the British Armies in France, a post he would hold until 1919.
Private Collection
Lieutenant James Robert Dundas McEwen
1915Oil on canvas
This portrait was painted in May 1915, a month after that of his brother John. In June, de László and his wife Lucy were invited to stay with the McEwen family at Marchmont, their home in Berwickshire. It was a welcome diversion from the war and they travelled back to London with the sitter. He visited the studio where some changes were made before he rejoined his regiment in France.
James “Jim” Robert Dundas McEwen (1896–1916) postponed his place at Trinity College, Cambridge, to volunteer for the Royal Scots Fusiliers, his local regiment in Ayrshire. He was killed in action on 12 October 1916 in the final days of the battle of the Somme, near Bapaume. His name can be found on the Thiepval Memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, commemorating the 72,337 missing British and South African servicemen who have no known grave.
Private Collection
Medals awarded Lieutenant James Robert Dundas McEwen
The Memorial Plaque was issued after the First World War to the families of all British service personnel killed in the war. It was designed by medalist Edward Carter Preston and shows Britannia holding a trident and standing with a lion. The individual’s name does not include the rank since there was to be no distinction between sacrifices made by those serving their country. Around the images it reads, "He died for freedom and honour."From left to right are: 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Allied Victory Medal. These were issued together to those who fought in a theatre of war.
Private Collection
Lieutenant John Helias Finnie McEwen
1915Oil on board
The portraits of brothers John and James McEwen exemplify the tragedy of war as one brother survived whilst the other did not return. These wartime portraits were of immeasurable value to the families left behind, serving as vivid reminders of their loved ones and more tangible than any photograph could be. Both portraits were commissioned by the sitters’ father Robert Finnie McEwen and hung together with the other family portraits painted by de László in the dining-room at Marchmont in Berwickshire.
John ‘Jock’ Helias Finnie McEwen (1894–1962), served as a captain in the 5th Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps. On the night of 16 July 1916 he was engaged in a night bombing raid on Sallaumines and suffered engine failure after being hit by machine gun fire. He survived the crash and was taken prisoner for the remainder of the war.
Private Collection
Theodore Bruno Kittel and Friedrich Wilhelm Braune Playing Chess at Islington Internment Camp
1918Lithograph
On 7 November 1917 de László was moved from Brixton Prison to the Camp for Interned Enemy Aliens at the Cornwallis Road Institution, also referred to as Islington Internment Camp. The camp housed up to 750 German and Austro-Hungarian nationals at any one time. Though an improvement on Brixton, conditions at the camp, a former Victorian workhouse, were difficult and the artist’s health declined.
Theodore Bruno Kittel (1856–1923), seen here with chin resting in his hand and Friedrich Wilhelm Braune (1880–1950) opposite, were both German by birth and a strong friendship developed between the three men. They posed for portrait drawings which de László kept for the rest of his life as a reminder of this dark period. After the war, he had reproductions made and presented them to Kittel and Braune.
Private Collection
The Lamentation of Christ
1917Pencil and watercolour on paper
De László turned to religion during his internment, finding parallels between the life of Christ and his own suffering. He felt very strongly that he was innocent. The artist’s wife Lucy heroically pursued her husband’s case and met with those in authority to secure his release. She felt the injustice of his position and suffered as she saw her huband attacked by the press and in the House of Commons.
During his internment de László drew or painted more religious subjects than at any other time in his career. While in Brixton Prison he had only a small paper bound notebook which he filled with quotations from Galatians 5:24 and Matthew 6:33 and small studies of the Lamentation. He was only permitted a pencil for the seven weeks he was there and it was not until he moved to Islington that he had access to watercolours.
Private Collection
Patrick David de Laszlo
1918Oil on board
De László was not permitted to paint in oil while in Brixton Prison or the internment camp in Upper Holloway, and this portrait of his nine-year-old son Patrick was the first since his arrest. He was secretly moved to a nursing home at 20 Ladbroke Gardens to avoid drawing the attention of the xenophobic press which had continued to write vitriolically about his case. In his diary the artist wrote:
"I had, for the first time for nine months, the pleasure of holding the dear palette in my hand again and with great delight I started a sketch of my son Patrick before he left home to enter Twyford School. It was wonderful to be surrounded by my old friends the colour tubes and brushes after so long. It was a lovely day, with just the light I wanted, and I painted from three o’clock until seven, with a short interval for tea. I forgot myself in my work and finished the portrait. I am happy about it and shall treasure it as my first painting after my arrest. So long as I had my dear palette and my brushes in my hands I felt young, as I always do, but after I had finished my strength gave way and I collapsed."
Private Collection
John Adolphus de Laszlo
1918Oil on board
This portrait was painted on Armistice Day, 11 November 1918, signalling the end of the First World War. The inscription verso reads: “This is our youngest son’s portrait. Johnny 1918 Nov 11 Nursing Home / The sun shines in his glory and the Peace of a new day is born to the world” revealing de László’s hope that the unimaginable hardships experienced by himself and millions of others would soon come to an end. At the time he could not have imagined that his liberty would not be restored until his case was brought before the Naturalisation Revocation Committee in June 1919.
Private Collection
A Japanese Doll and a Bunch of Grapes on a Silver Dish
1919Oil on canvasboard
De László painted a number of still life compositions while interned during the First World War. This example was painted in early January 1919, the year the artist finally regained his liberty after his exoneration at the Naturalisation Revocation Committee hearing at the end of June.
The Janpanese doll was given to the artist’s wife Lucy in 1908 by First Lady Mrs Theodore Roosevelt during their visit to the White House in Washington D.C. De László was commissioned to paint President Roosevelt by their mutual friend Arthur Lee, Lord Lee of Fareham, who was actively involved in securing the artist’s release from internment.
On loan from New Place Hotel
Littleworth Corner in the Snow from the Garden
1919Oil on canvasboard
Littleworth Corner in Buckinghamshire was the country home of Sir Charles Russell, de László’s solicitor. He negotiated de László's release from the nursing home in Ladbroke Gardens to live there under house arrest with his wife and five sons until his trial. They moved to Littleworth Corner on 18 December 1918, just in time for their first Christmas together for two years following a fifteen-month separation.
The pictures painted by the artist at Littleworth Corner are among the most creative of his career both in technique and subject. Freed from the demands of portrait commissions he was now painting for pure enjoyment and exploring light and colour in a series of landscapes and portraits of Lucy and their children.
Sir Charles Russell
Catalogue
Catalogue
Philip de László: Master of Elegance
Mocking of Christ
1918Graphite on paper
Artist materials were in short supply during de László interment and he has used ruled paper from a notepad for this sketch rather than drawing paper. The composition was later worked up as a watercolour.
Private Collection
Internment Sketchbook
1917-1918Graphite on paper
De László had this sketchbook with him while interned at the Cornwallis Road Institution in Islington between November 1917 and May 1918. This sketch is a first study for the watercolour The Lamentation of Christ hanging nearby.
De László Archive Trust
