4584

Study portrait

Baron Félix Gerliczy^[1] 1922

Head and shoulders to the left in three-quarter profile, wearing a great-coat and a fur-trimmed hat decorated with jewels in the front and a tassel on its left side

Oil on board, 73.1 x 50.8 cm (28 ¾ x 20 in.)

Inscribed lower right: Kedves barátomnak / emlékül [to my dear friend as a souvenir] / LONDON / 1922.II 26 / László F E

Sitters' Book II, f. 28: Felix Gerliczy Febr. 26th. 1922.

Musée des Beaux Arts, Nice, France

This study portrait was painted the same day that de László completed painting a formal three-quarter length portrait of the sitter [4585] at the end of a series of sittings that had commenced 16 February 1922.^[2] Gerliczy is wearing the same fur trimmed hat of his díszmagyar^[3] that he is holding in his right hand in the formal portrait. The inscription indicates that the artist presented it to the sitter as a token of their friendship.

De László may have first met Gerliczy, then a young man of eighteen, in 1903 when he painted a portrait of his mother, Baroness Ferenc Gerliczy [4590]. Their acquaintance was renewed in 1920 when Baron Gerliczy visited London and commissioned two formal three-quarter length portraits of himself [4585]and his wife [4588].^[4] After his internment in England during the First World War, this was the first commission the artist received from a fellow Hungarian following his release. The initial sittings for that portrait took place in February 1921. As was so often the case with de László, he and his sitter became friends. They must have discussed de László's internment in 1917-18, when he was accused of disloyalty. When Gerliczy returned home de László sent  him a copy of the decision of the Revocation Committee, which in June 1919 had concluded that the artist was not guilty of any disloyalty or disaffection to the United Kingdom, his adopted country.  Gerliczy replied: "I am pleased to have such an interesting document in my possession, as it will allow me, if the occasion arises, to enlighten my fellow countrymen about the true conduct and character of my Master."^[5] He thanked de László for his hospitality when he visited his studio, adding: "I am happy to have had the opportunity to meet not only the artist whose works I have long admired, but also the warm-hearted, generous and scrupulously correct gentleman."^[6] 

During the 1920's the Gerliczys paid frequent visits to London, as their children were at boarding schools in England, and the Baron would visit the de László family. His son Antal was at Beaumont Preparatory School in Windsor, where de László had helped him to gain a place through the influence of his  solicitor, Sir Charles  Russell.^[7] Another link with the Gerliczy family was Baron Félix's sister Erzsébet, who was married to Baron Jenő Forster, the son of de László's old friend Baron Gyula Forster.^[8] There exists a home movie showing the Baron with the artist and his family when he visited them in 1927 at their home in Fitzjohns Avenue, London. Despite their friendship, they always addressed each other formally, the artist calling him by his title and the Baron calling him "Master."

For biographical notes on the sitter, see [4585].

PROVENANCE:

Countess Gerliczy-Burián, the sitter's wife;

Presented by her to the Musée des Beaux- Arts, Nice, in March 1958

EXHIBITED:

•Galerie des Ponchettes, Chers Maîtres et Cie, Nice, 1979, no. 71

LITERATURE:

•DLA034-0009, letter from Baron Félix Gerliczy to de László, 24 August 1920

•DLA034-0005, letter from Baron Félix Gerliczy to de László, 8 March 1921

•DLA152-0024, Philip de László Appointment Book, 1922

•DLA038-0129, letter from Baron Félix Gerliczy to de László, 26 August 1927

Pd'O 2015