4221

Princess Helen of Romania, née Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark 1924

Half-length slightly to the left, in three-quarter profile, wearing a pale yellow evening dress, a blue, gold-edged stole draped round her shoulders, pearl earrings, and holding a bunch of yellow flowers in her right hand

Oil on canvas, 90.2 x 69.9 cm (35 ½ x 27 ½ in.)

Inscribed lower left: de László / 1925 / LONDON

Laib L11740(672) / C10(26)  

Sitters’ Book II, f. 40: Helen / 1925.

Sitters’ Book II, f. 42: Hélène de Caraiman / 1st October 1924 / [in the artist’s hand: Queen of Greece^[1]]

Private Collection

There were six sittings for this portrait, which took place at the end of September and the beginning of October 1924. The Greek royal family were important patrons of de László and his long association with them put him on close and informal terms with his sitter. Princess Helen later recalled that he joked with her: “Ah, well, if you were really beautiful then I could make something of your portrait, but in spite of everything I will do the best I can!”^[2] The artist received three hundred guineas for the commission, which he noted was a special price.^[3] The portrait was dated 1925, but this was likely to have been added before the picture was sent to America for exhibition in September that year.

This portrait was mentioned by the sitter’s mother-in-law, Queen Marie of Romania [2961], in her diary entry for 22 July 1925, while on holiday in England: “visited Laszlo and saw two beautiful pictures of Lisabetta and Sitta.”^[4] The picture’s arrival in Bucharest is also noted in her diary for 14 September 1926: “the lovely picture Laszlo painted of Sitta has arrived and hangs on her walls.”^[5] 

De László visited Romania in 1936 to complete a commission of three portraits of the Royal family for the National Bank of Romania, King Carol II [4220], Queen Marie [3211], and a posthumous portrait of King Ferdinand [4217]. During his visit he also painted an oil sketch [3231] and formal portrait [4218] of the sitter’s son Prince Michael, and presented the sketch to Princess Helen in 1937.

Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark was born on 2 May 1896 in Athens, eldest of the three daughters of King Constantine I of Greece [11591] and Princess Sophie of Prussia, the sister of the German Emperor Wilhelm II [4952]. She married Crown Prince Carol of Romania (subsequently King Carol II) [4220] in Athens on 10 March 1921.

Her son Prince Michael was born in October 1921. Soon after, her initially happy marriage deteriorated and she spent much time in Athens and then in Sicily with her exiled family. There were also difficulties in her relationship with her mother-in-law, Queen Marie, who complained that Helen was overprotective of Prince Michael and separated her from her grandson.  

From February 1925 her husband became increasingly involved with his mistress Elena Lupescu [3233] and in November 1925 the couple left Romania to live abroad and he renounced his rights to the throne. On the death of King Ferdinand in 1927, Michael, aged only five, became King with a regency. Helen and Carol divorced in 1928.

Carol returned to Romania in 1930 and was declared King, displacing his own son. Helen was restricted access to Prince Michael and she left Romania in July 1931 to live at her Villa Sparta in Fiesole, Florence, Italy. When Carol abdicated in September 1940 she returned to Romania and was given the title of Queen Mother of Romania by government degree.

During the Second World War she devoted herself to the care of the wounded. For her efforts in rescuing Romanian Jews from the Nazis, she was awarded the status of Righteous Among the Nations.^[6] 

King Michael was forced to abdicate by the Communist government at the end of 1947 and left Romania with his mother in January 1948. She settled at the Villa Sparta where de Lászlò visited her and painted a picture of the view [3990] in 1935.

Princess Helen was interested in the arts and very supportive of the creative community in Florence, surrounding herself with artists and writers. She confided to one friend that she was almost more content in that period of her life than she had been in any other. She remained in Italy until she moved to Switzerland in 1979, shortly before her death in 1982.  

EXHIBITED:

•M. Knoedler & Co., New York, Portraits by Philip A. de László, M.V.O., 19-31 October 1925, no. 12

•The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Special Exhibition of Portraits by Philip A. de László, M.V.O., 5- 27 December 1925, no. 3

•Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Special Exhibition of Portraits by Philip A. de László, M.V.O., 31 December 1925-10 January 1926, no. 3

•Hotel Jean Charpentier, Paris, Exposition P. A. de László, June 1931, no. 8

•M. Knoedler & Co., London, Royal Portraits by Philip A. de László, M.V.O., 27 November–8 December 1934, no. 2

LITERATURE:  

•“Notable Portraits by Philip A. de Laszlo,” The Spur, vol. XXXVI, n° 7 (1 October 1925), p. 64, ill.

•Roumania, Queen Marie of, Diaries, Vol. III, pp. 152, 157, National Archives, Bucharest

•“A Queen Who Has Never Worn a Crown,” The Illustrated London News, 5 July 1930, p. 13[?] ill.

•The Illustrated London News, 1 December 1934, p. 868, ill.

•De László letters to Queen Marie of Roumania, dated 1 & 12 March 1936, Arhivele Nationale, Bucuresti, fond Regina Maria personale, V4673 & V4674

•Rutter, Owen, Portrait of a Painter, London, 1939, pp. 175, 352- 3, 376

•Lee, Arthur Gould, Helen, Queen Mother of Rumania, Princess of Greece and Denmark: An Authorized Biography, London, Faber & Faber, 1955, ill. no 8, opp. p. 118

•Markezinis, Styros, A Political History of Contemporary Greece, Vol. I: 1920-1929, Athens, 1972, p. 207

•Point de Vue: Images du Monde, no 2009, 30 January 1987, p. 8

•Beéche, Arturo E., H.M. King Michael I of Romania: A Tribute, Eurohistory.com and Rosvall Royal Books, 2001, p. 82

•Maillefer, Danielle, Passion roumaine: une famille royale dans la tourmente,  Editions Cabédita, 2018, pp. 16 & 17, ill. opp. foreword

•DLA082-0033, de László to Mme. Plagino, Lady-in-waiting to Princess Helen, 11 October 1926

Our thanks to David Horbury for his help with the biographical notes for this entry.  

SMdeL 2013