110925

UNTRACED

Baroness Emile d'Erlanger, née Catherine de Robert d’Aqueria de Rochegude c. 1899

Head  and shoulders in profile to the left in an oval, wearing a gathered chiffon blouse, and a golden diadem

Oil [support and dimensions unknown]

Indistinctly inscribed lower left: László FE 

Sitters’ Book I, f. 30: Emil B d’Erlanger / Rochegude [among signatures dated 1899]

Baroness Emile d’Erlanger wears a very similar chiffon dress and golden diadem as the 1899 full face portrait  [4596], which suggests that de László painted it during the same sittings. The portrait was still in his studio a few years after its execution, it is likely that de László painted it for his own pleasure.

It was clearly an important portrait in de László’s eyes as it can be seen in two photographs of the artist in his Budapest studio, dated 1901 and 1903. The d’Erlangers were amongst his most prestigious patrons at this stage in his career and de László’s studio was an excellent showcase for his art. No doubt it also was a testimony of his friendship with the Baron and Baroness, which was to prove a long-lasting one.

The present portrait remains untraced and was not included in the artist’s studio inventory, which would indicate that it was not in his possession at the time of his death. However, it probably was still in his possession in 1907, when he painted Erna Peill [110808]. Her hair, pose, gathered chiffon blouse, and the general composition – in an oval, rare in de László’s oeuvre – establish a strong link between the two paintings. This suggests that Peill saw the portrait of Baroness d’Erlanger in de László’s studio and, much attracted by it, commissioned a painting in the same style.

EXHIBITED:        

•Műcsarnok, Budapest, Hungarian Fine Art Society, Tavaszi kiállítás [Spring Exhibition], 1900, no. 125

•Galerie Schulte, Berlin, 1900

LITERATURE:

•DLA090-0194, German press cutting [1900]

•DLA162-0118, Pesti Hírlap, 8 April 1900, p. 7

•DLA140-0093, “Fülöp László”, Moderne Kunst, vol. XVII, issue 20, Berlin, Leipzig, Wien, Stuttgart, p. 246, ill [1903]

CC 2008