13167

Preparatory work

Comtesse Jean de Castellane, née Marie Dorothée de Talleyrand Périgord 1899

Head and shoulders in three-quarter profile to the right, a red and black costume and diamond crescent tiara in her hair just indicated

Oil on board, 48 x 38 ¼ cm (19 x 15 in.)

Inscribed verso, lower right: Alulirott ezennel igazolom,  hogy a baloldalon lévő festményt egy lemezpapírról választottam le,  amely lemezpapír másik oldalán László Fülöp festőművésznek ugyanazon fejet ábrázoló és signált festménye volt.  Szóval a jelen festmény szintén László Fülöp műve.  Bpest 1923 Márc. 20.  […..]:

(“I the undersigned hereby certify that I separated the painting on the left from a card board, on the other side of which there was a signed painting by the artist Philip László showing the same head.  Thus the present painting is also the work of Philip László. Budapest, 20th March 1923.” [Signature illegible])  

Inscribed verso, lower left: Thomán Lászlóné (Mrs. László Thomán)^[1]

Sitters’ Book I, f. 29: Talleyrand-Périgord Comtesse Jean de / Castellane / La Mulotière 16 octobre 1899

Private Collection

This is one of two known preparatory works for the 1899 portrait of Comtesse Jean de Castellane. Considering the dimensions are exactly the same, it may be concluded that they were originally painted on the same board and later separated, as explained in the inscription on the back of the present portrait.

In the present preparatory work, Comtesse de Castellane wears the same crescent tiara as in the finished portrait, but the sitter looks to the viewer in semi-profile to the right. De László eventually chose to portray her with her head turned, her shoulders to the left, as in the second preparatory work [111229].

CC 2008