Philip de Laszlo: The Ratibors and Beyond

"Prince Maximilian von Ratibor"
by Philip de Laszlo

"Early in 1897 Philip de Laszlo became acquainted with Prince Max Ratibor, the German Consul-General in Budapest, and the meeting led to a long and happy friendship with the various members of this family. The Ratibors are large landowners in Germany and are related or connected by marriage with most of the German nobility.

His first Ratibor portraits were those of Prince Max and his wife. These and the picture of Princess Victoria, their daughter - which de Laszlo always maintained were three of his best portraits - were to bring him further fame and success.

'I am being begged to exhibit your pictures which we have here,' wrote Prince Max Ratibor from Weimar, where he was then German Minister at the Court of the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, 'before you will need them for your coming exhibition in Berlin next year. They will be shown in the Museum here. The patron is the Grand Duke of Weimar.'

The Grand Duke was delighted with de Laszlo's work and commissioned a portrait of himself, which was painted immediately. The Grand Duke was so pleased with it that he decorated de Laszlo with the Order of the White Falcon. The exhibition was held in February, 1898, at the fashionable Schulte Gallery, and besides the German portraits de Laszlo showed, there were those of Count and Countess Albert Apponyi, Count Chotek, Dr. Alexander Wekerle, Herr Pretorious, and the Archimandrite Gregorius. The reception of the critics was all he could have wished.He was accepted no longer as a promising young artist, but as a fully-fledged painter with a great career before him.

In the spring of 1898 de Laszlo exhibited his portraits of Princess Max Ratibor and Daniela Grunelius at the Paris Salon. The portrait of Daniela aroused particular attention and was reproduced in colour on the front page of 'L'Illustration.' The National Art Gallery of Adelaide, South Australia, wished to buy it for their collection, but it was not for sale. 

An American gentleman, Mr. Minot, saw the portraits in the Salon and wanted de Laszlo to return with him to Boston to paint a picture of his daughter-in-law and her son. On learning that de Laszlo's outstanding commissions made this impossible, he suggested that as he was taking a house in the Isle of Wight, the portrait might be painted there. He offered a fee of 500 pounds and travelling expenses. This offer de Laszlo accepted.  

He wrote to Lucy Guinness to tell her of his forthcoming visit to England. He had not heard from her for two years and even though his letter was written in formal terms, it did not disguise his excitement at the possibility of seeing her again."

To be continued

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