Philip de Laszlo: "Hofbrauhaus"

"Hofbrauhaus" by Philip de Laszlo

Philip de Laszlo wrote: "Since my first students days in Munich I had wanted to make the Hofbrauhaus the subject of a picture. I used to go there and take my evening meal in the midst of that wonderful crowd of men drawn from every class. I was always impressed by the Bavarian waitresses in their national costumes, carrying in one hand as many as a dozen clay mugs full of foaming beer. I do not think I ever enjoyed anything more in my life than my meals of pork, sauerkraut and black bread in those picturesque surroundings.

I used to go there day by day and watch the movements of the people: a soldier and a cabman, a small official and a business man, a student joking with a waitress. Unnoticed, I made a number of drawings straight from life and built up the composition in my studio. One day, as I sat watching, I saw a couple of English tourists going round and gazing at the scene. They just fitted into my picture. 

Naturally Prof. Liezenmayer had his bit to add and I trusted his judgment when he came with his piece of charcoal and made ruthless corrections. In time the composition of the 'Hofbrauhaus' grew until there were twenty-five figures in it. Gradually I found interesting models, and made individual sketches of each of them. With the help of a gas-reflector I managed to reproduce the lighting much as it was. The good Frau Valentin got me a table and chairs like those in the Hofbrauhaus, and similar beer mugs. 

I also bought myself a large camera for at this time it was a common practice for painters and students to make photographic studies of poses, although I always felt that this was wrong and very bad for their work. A student should always have a sketchbook and make as many studies as he can from life. From these studies he will learn to reproduce movement, to observe, and to simplify, and with a few lines to portray the essential characteristics of his subject.

One of the models de Laszlo used for this painting was a young Irish girl, Lucy Guinness. She posed as one of the English tourists, and wrote to a friend that the time in his studio, along with her sister, were twelve 'most enjoyable' afternoons. There is much more that will be said of Lucy because she eventually became his wife.

'Hofbrauhaus' was finished in time for the exhibition of composition students' work at the Academy. De Laszlo designed the frame for it himself - old gold, wide and simple, without ornamentation - and Haage, the famous framemaker of Munich, who was an old friend of the Valentins, executed the design. De Laszlo won the Silver Medal, an award which had been inaugurated by King Otto of Bavaria. It had the King's portrait in relief on one side, and de Laszlo's name was engraved on the other."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Portrait of a Painter" by Owen Rutter.)