111229

UNTRACED

Preparatory work

La Comtesse Jean de Castellane 1899

Head-and-shoulders, head slightly turned to the right and looking away to the right, wearing a black evening dress, and a crescent-shaped jewel in her hair, all against a dark background.

Oil on cardboard, 50 x 39 cm (19 ¾ x 15 ⅜ in.)

Inscribed: László F.E.

Sitters’ Book I, f. 29: Talleyrand-Périgord Comtesse Jean de / Castellane

The present portrait appears to be a successful preparatory sketch for the 1899 portrait of Comtesse Jean de Castellane [3769]. Had it been painted on canvas, one could have envisaged the possibility of this work being a rejected version, but at this early stage in his career, de László only used board for his studies or personal works. Here, the composition is very close to the finished portrait, and there is no doubt in this respect that de László and his sitter were pleased with this careful preparation for the finished canvas. The fact that it is signed is a strong indication of such satisfaction. There exists another preparatory work for the final portrait with the sitter in three-quarter profile, and looking to the viewer [13167]. According to an inscription in Hungarian at the back, also on cardboard, this second study was apparently painted recto verso, with the head of Comtesse Jean de Castellane on both sides [13166]. The inscription indicates that the cardboard was split into two separate works before 1923. Considering the dimensions of both studies are identical, it is very likely that the verso in question is the present work.

This used to be in the possession of Aladár Fónagy, an important collector of the early 20th century, who originally came to Budapest from the Felvidék^[1] to work as an apprentice in Adolf Jónás’s wood trading business and soon made a fortune, acquiring the nickname the “wood king”. Little more is known about him, but in 1907 he co-founded the Credit Institute of Hungarian Wood Traders, with one million crown capital stock. It is likely that he lost his fortune in the 1920s, and was therefore forced to auction his collection in 1929. Another work which was up for auction in the Fónagy sale was a large-scale 1895 version of Felicián Zách [111172].

For biographical notes on the sitter, see [3769].

PROVENANCE:        

The Fónagy Collection, until 1929

EXHIBITED:        

•Fónagy Sale, Ernst Museum, 1929, n° 595: NŐ DIADÉMMEL (Dame m. Diadem). Jelezve (Bezeichnet): László F.E.)/ Karton. 50 x 39 cm.

LITERATURE:        

•Ungarische Zukunft, July 1918

CC 2008