DLA016-0095  Transcription

WOLMER WOOD,

MARLOW COMMON,

MARLOW, BUCKS.

Nov. 17th 1926.

My dear friend

I was very glad to get your letter as I did not know whether you were still in Paris or wandering about the Continent; I guessed you were not at No. 3 as I feel sure I should have heard if you were. You seem to be having a busy time in Paris and I suppose that you are, as usual, working a good deal harder than is wise. Still, I have no doubt that you are enjoying yourself especially if, as you say, you are surrounded by attractive ladies of various types and nationalities – I hope you squeezed enough out of the gold sack to make up for the pain of painting her. I sympathise with you – the aggressively rich people bore me unutterably, I do not envy them but I find them deadly dull as a rule.

I would very much like to have a look at you next week – though apparently

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it would only be a very brief glimpse of you – but I am at the moment very uncertain about my next week’s movements. I have to be at the general meeting of the Pastel Society on Friday and this will mean my getting my work done earlier in the week so I do not think I shall be able to get away on Wednesday. If I cannot I shall look forward to seeing you early next month. By the way, I hope you really are coming back early next month because I much want to go to the Royal Portrait Society show^[1] with you – there is a very fine Frank Holl^[2] there that I want to hear your opinion of and there is a superb Orchardson – his portrait of Lord Swaythling – which seems to me to be a real masterpiece,^[3] and there are interesting things by Millais and Watts.^[4] The show, as a whole keeps at a decent level, but there is little by present day men that I should call really exciting – nothing very good and nothing very bad but rather a lot that is commonplace and dull. There is a show of modern French stuff at Knoedler’s – Matisse,

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Derain, Signac, Marie Laurencin and so on most of it pretty bad;^[5] and there is another show at Tooth’s gallery of drawings by Modigliani which are utterly ridiculous. But at Connells’ gallery there is a show of drawings of Paris by Rushbury^[6] which are delightful; I would much like you to see them as I am sure you would like them, he is an artist of unusually fine taste and a most expressive draughtsman.

Your dinner next week ought to be amusing – are you looking forward to meeting Frank Dicksee and Gordon Hewart?^[7] I shall be curious to hear what sort of time you have there.

I hope you will continue to have fine weather for the rest of your time in Paris; it has been rather unpleasant here lately, mild enough but dull and damp and a good deal of wind: we have had no tennis for the last week or two as our court has been too wet to play on. The wind had brought down the leaves

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and the trees are nearly bare now but ten days ago the colour in the garden and the woods round here was really gorgeous. I have had a cold so I was afraid to sit out and sketch – it was a pity, as I could have got some good autumn subjects.

Au revoir then – I hope to see you soon and to hear all about your doings in Paris. Please give my best remembrances to de Grammont^[8] of whose genial personality I have very pleasant recollections.

Always yours

A.L. Baldry.

I am glad to hear that Mrs de Laszlo is to be with you for the rest of your stay in Paris as I hope she will be able to keep you from working too hard

Editorial Note:

Alfred Lys Baldry (1858-1939), British artist and art critic who authored several articles on de László and who was a close family friend; for biographical notes, see [3562].

SMDL

20/12/2017