DLA019-0040  Transcription

14th April, 1930.

It was a very unexpected pleasure to receive your letter of March 7th,^[1] and my delayed reply is due to my having been away in the South of France where my wife and I were taking a rest, and during which time no letters were being forwarded to me. During our absence I was elected President of The Royal Society of British Artists which office necessitated my returning home much sooner than I had intended, and I have been kept extremely busy since.

I wish to thank you for your interesting description of the visits you recently made in Buenos Aires during Princess Marie Louise’s stay there, and it gives me exceptional pleasure to hear that she so much appreciated those portraits which you described, and that you also admired them.^[2] I remember with delight those happy hours which I spent in the company of Senora de Alvear; she was certainly a very inspiring subject to paint, and it is true that I considered her portrait one of my best [3434]. I was also interested to hear about the portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Ricardo Green’s children [5383][110544]. I have so many friends in the Argentine and hope that some day I shall be able to avail myself of their kind invitations to visit them. At the beginning of this year I finished a portrait group in my Paris Studio of Madame Menendez and her child [110556].

I was also pleased to hear that you had received a reproduction of the sketch portrait which I did of Babsie d’Ursel as a wedding gift to her [4981]; up to the present, however, I do not possess one.

                                                                                                                                                                                     ./.

E. Millington-Drake, Esq.

./ .

[Page 2]

I was glad to learn that Mrs. Millington-Drake^[3] and your family will soon be arriving in England, and I much look forward to the pleasure of seeing them. I hope I shall also have the pleasure of greeting you too during your sejour in London in June.

With my renewed thanks for your welcome letter, | Believe me, | Yours very sincerely,

Editorial Note:

Sir John Henry Eugen Vanderstegen Millington-Drake (1889-1972), British diplomat, writer and sportsman

SMDL

27/05/2018