Philip de Laszlo: Making a Name for Himself

"Baroness Hugo von Reischach,
née Princess Margarethe von Ratibor"
by Philip de Laszlo

"Philip de Laszlo was now making his name. He was a gold medallist of the Paris Salon. No longer would he have to count his centimes. Never again would he have to travel fourth class. He had painted kings and princes. He had stayed in their palaces. They were glad to call him their friend, and he no longer felt awkward and abashed in their company.

In March, upon finishing the portrait of the German chancellor, he went to Vienna, where as he said, 'I rented a fine studio and became acquainted with many prominent people in that enchanting city. During the next five weeks I painted the portraits of Prince and Princess Max Egon von Furstenberg and another dozen portraits, all of great interest. Among my sitters were the beautiful Countess Aglya Kinsky, her husband, Count Ferdinand Kinsky, who was Master of the Horse; the Lord Marshal, Prince Rudolf Lichtenstein; the Hungarian Prince Tasillo Festetics, and the lovely Princess Montenuovo.'

In May he went to Budapest, where he painted the Hungarian Premier, Count Julius Szapary and made a sketch of Dr. Julius Wlassics, the Minister of Arts and Education. Then returning to Germany he painted Baron and Baroness Friedrich Diergardt and their two daughters. These contacts led to his painting the Empress later in the year, who, having no time to give sittings for oil portraits, was greatly impressed with the speed with which he executed his sketches and wanted one to give the Kaiser. It was a year of tremendous activity and hard work. 

He was being particularly successful in Germany, and was obtaining high prices for his work. Nowhere in the world do family portraits hold such an important place as in the noble families of Germany. Every member of each generation find a place on the walls of the ancestral castle. In the years before the war Germany was a fruitful field for the portrait painter. There were large families to paint, and the money forthcoming to employ artists of repute.

He  worked with amazing rapidity and concentration, and yet he seemed always to find time to develop lasting friendships with his sitters. Commissions were pouring in and de Laszlo could not refuse them. Apart from his personal ambition, he had determined to show Lucy Guinness' mother that he was no long a penniless art student, but a successful man who could give her daughter a comfortable home."

To be continued

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