111343
UNTRACED
Madame István Bárczy de Bárcziháza, née Edit Luczenbacher de Szob 1914
Standing whole length in a landscape, slightly to the right, full face but looking away to the left, wearing a pale off-the shoulder dress with a broad sash tied at the waist, a stole draped over her left forearm and holding a straw hat surrounded by a dark ribbon in her right hand, a string of pearls round her neck
Oil [support and dimensions unknown]
Sitters' Book I., opp. f. 97: Bárczy Edith / London June 18th [among signatures dated 1914]
De László first painted the sitter in 1912, when she was in London on her honeymoon [111011]. The present portrait was commissioned by her husband István Bárczy de Bárcziháza, who was a close friend of de László. He had a very firm idea of the composition he had in mind and the dress that his wife was to wear. Before setting out from Budapest, he wrote to de László: “My wife is having a white and a light coloured dress made, both out of Liberty material. She is taking the dresses of the Duchess of Sutherland[1] [7326] and of Countess Zia Torby[2] [12637] as a pattern. We will buy the hat and the shawl in London.”[3] Both these portraits were painted by de László in 1913, and both were illustrated in the Illustrated London News in July 1913. It is very likely that de Bárczy and his wife had seen these images, as de László often sent his friend copies of illustrations of his works that were published in magazines. In the present portrait both the sitter's pose and her dress and hat bear a resemblance to the portrait of Countess Torby. Mrs de Bárczy is depicted here by de László in the grand style of a glamorous swagger portrait in the manner of Gainsborough or Reynolds. Somewhat ostentatious and theatrical, this picture was certainly in keeping with her husband’s taste and catering to his vanity.[4] Bárczy was indeed highly pleased with the portrait. On his way back to Hungary, he wrote from Munich: “From this pleasant city, where no doubt you too spent some pleasant days, I am writing to thank you and your wife for all the kindness and cordiality that you heaped upon us. I feel infinitely pleased and I am very grateful to you for painting such a lovely portrait of my little wife. It will always be a joy not only for us, but also for our little son and for our future grandchildren.[5] It is not only a superb portrait, but I feel that you have also given expression to my wife’s whole being and to the noble goodness of her soul.”[6]
The portrait initially remained in London and de Bárczy, writing from Budapest shortly before the outbreak of the First World War “in an atmosphere made even darker by the Serbs,”[7] asked de László to send him a photograph of the painting.[8] It was not until late in 1920 that the portrait itself arrived in Budapest. Bárczy wrote to de László to thank him for sending it: “In these sad days which have descended on our country,[9] nothing has caused us greater pleasure than to be able to see again, as a result of your friendship and benevolence, the portrait that you painted of my beloved wife in 1914. We cannot delight in it enough. It is one of your most beautiful and successful works. We are both happy that in these difficult times we can enjoy it and we gratefully thank you for sending it to us now, when we didn't even expect it. Your beautiful portrait of my wife was admired not only by the connoisseurs but also by all the artists - which is quite rare in our country."[10]
For biographical notes on the sitter, see [111011].
EXHIBITED:
•Műcsarnok, Budapest, Hungarian Fine Art Society Spring Exhibition and Retrospectives of Philip de László, Mihály Munkácsy, János Pentelei Molnár, Samu Petz and László Hűvös, 4 May – 30 June 1925 [Műcsarnok, Országos Magyar Képzőművészeti Társulat, Budapest, Tavaszi kiállítás és László Fülöp, Munkácsy Mihály, Pentelei Molnár János, valamit Petz Samu és Hűvös László összegyűjtött műveinek kiállítása, 1925. május 4 – június 30.], no. 1 [11]
LITERATURE:
•DLA122-0065, Pesti Napló, 24 May 1925, ill.
•Színházi Élet[12](The World of Theatre) 1932/52, Special Christmas Edition, ill.
•Hart-Davis, Duff, László Fülöp élete és festészete [Philip de László's Life and Painting], Corvina, Budapest, 2019, ill. 110
•DLA068-0103, letter from Bárczy to de László, 1 July 1914.
•DLA068-0105, letter from Bárczy to de László, 19 July 1914.
•DLA030-0003 and 030-0004, letter from Bárczy to de László, 18 December 1920
•DLA162-0270, Pesti Hírlap, 16 May 1925, p. 5
•DLA016-0053, letter from de László to Bárczy, 29 May 1925.
Pd'O 2008
[1] The Marchioness of Stafford, née Lady Eileen Gwladys Butler. She married Sir George Granville Sutherland-Leveson -Gower, Marquess of Stafford, who succeeded his father as the 5th Duke of Sutherland in 1913.
[2] Countess Anastasia 'Zia' Torby, later Lady Zia Wernher, daughter of Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia.
[3] DLA068-0108, op. cit.
[4] De Bárczy had portraits painted of himself by Bertalan Karlovszky and by Gyula Benczúr, and a marble portrait bust by Zsigmond Kisfaludi-Strobl. He was painted by de László in 1927 [111342].
[5] Sadly, the couple's only child Károly died in 1934 at the age of 20, and they had no other descendants.
[6] DLA068-0103, op. cit.
[7] Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo on 28th June 1914.
[8] DLA068-0105, op. cit.
[9] He is referring to the effects of the Treaty of Trianon of 4 June 1920, which dismembered Hungary.
[10] DLA030-0003 and 030-0004, op. cit.
[11] DLA016-0053, op. cit.
[12] A society magazine