Philip de Laszlo:Signed and Finished

"Philip de László in his Studio at 3 Fitzjohn's Avenue, London"

"On Philip de Laszlo's return to England in the spring of 1937 he felt well enough to paint Lord Nuffield for St. Peter's Hall, Oxford, and at the unveiling of the portrait the Master said that de Laszlo was the only man who had ever been able to make his Lordship sit still for a prolonged period, and even so had painted him in the act of getting up.

It was coronation year and he had many request for sitting, among them the Duke of Portland, and Prince Chichibu of Japan, whom he showed in military robes and the Princess in a blue kimono, the Duchess of Northumberland, a second portrait of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Dawson of Penn, and Sir Henry Wood for the Royal Academy of Music.

In October he went to Bagshot to paint the Duke of Connaught. He made these arrangements without the knowledge of his studio attendant, or of Lucy, fearing that they would disapprove. The portrait was finished on the morning of 20 October. The same afternoon Mrs. Lancaster Cooper came for a final sitting. This was the last portrait de Laszlo signed.

That evening he attended a livery banquet of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass. He left early and while on his homeward journey had another heart attack. The chauffeur drove him straight to Lord Dawson. The attack passed, but he had to remain in bed, and for a week or two it was hoped that he would make a good recovery. On 20 November he received the news that the Regent of Hungary had conferred upon him the Badge of the Corvinus Order of Honour, Hungary's highest award for artistic or literary merit. 

He was eager to be up and about to help in the preparations for an exhibition of his portraits in New Bond Street in aid of the London Hospital and the Artists' Benevolent Institution. But he had tried himself too hard, and on the afternoon of 22 November, the eve of his exhibition, he died. Before he lost consciousness he said to his nurse: 'I know I am going to die. I don't mind, for I shall go to new experiences. But it is a pity, because there is still so much to do.'"

To be continued

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