3478

Preparatory drawing

Princess Louise of Battenberg 1907

Head and shoulders in three-quarter profile to the left, a large plumed hat

Sepia chalk on paper, 41.9 x 29.9 cm (16 ½ x 11 ¾ in.)

Inscribed lower right: P.A. László / 1907 April / Darmstadt

Sitters’ Book I, opp. f. 75: Louise Battenberg April 1907

Private Collection

This is a preparatory drawing for the seated half-length portrait [3481] of Princess Louise. The high degree of finish suggests that de László intended it as a portrait drawing of the type he often gave to his subjects as a memento of their sittings. He presented this to the Princess, whose mother had commissioned the finished portrait.  It was drawn in Darmstadt where the artist was a guest of the Grand Duke of Hesse [5937] and had commissioned portraits of himself and his wife [5933].

For biographical notes on the sitter, see [3481].

PROVENANCE:

By descent in the sitter’s family

KF 2017