7806

Preparatory work

Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark 1922

Standing full length slightly to the left, head turned to the right, wearing full military uniform and decorations, including the the blue sash and the Grand Cross of the Order of the Saviour, a sword at his left hand, holding his hat in his right, a monocle to his right eye

Oil on canvas, 52.1 x 34.3 cm (20 ½ x 13 ½ in.)

Sitters’ Book II, f. 29: Christopher / Prince of Greece Cannes 22 March 1922.

Private Collection

This preparatory oil study was made for the full length portrait [7804], painted in March 1922 at Prince Christopher’s villa in Cannes. Both the present picture and the preparatory drawing [11740] differ from the finished picture only in the detail of the sitter holding his helmet in his right hand. De László also painted a half length portrait of the Prince in 1919 [7802] and two portraits of his first wife Princess Anastasia, née May Stewart [6021], in 1915 when she was married to William B. Leeds, and a full length in 1922 [7801] as a pendant to the full-length portrait of her husband.

For biographical notes on the sitter, see [7802].

PROVENANCE:

William B. Leeds, Jr., stepson of the sitter

KF 2017