11372

Baron Gyula Forster 1913
Standing three-quarter length beside the base of a fluted column with his left hand to his cheek, in a dark díszmagyar, the ceremonial dress of a Hungarian nobleman, wearing the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle around his neck, with the Knight’s Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St Stephen and the Grand Cross of the Vatican Order of St. Gregory on his cloak
Oil on canvas, 145 x 105 cm (57 x 41 ½ in.)
Inscribed lower right: L  László  Fülöp / London 1913 July

Laib L6825 (55)/C9 (24)
NPG 1913-15 Album, p. 37
Sitters' Book I, f. 3: Forster Gyula  IV / 2 1899                        
Sitters’ Book I, opp. f. 93: Joggal büszkék vagyunk arra, ki nemzetének, a magyar művészetnek az egész világon dicsőséget szerez és a művészet történetébe örök értékü alkotásokkal írja be nevét. Én, ki szerencsés voltam lelke, szíve mélyébe látni, ezen kivül bámulattal és szeretettel hódolok nemes jellemének és szíve nagy jóságának is. / London 4.VII. 1913.^[1] / Forster Gyula

Collection of Gábor Kovács

Forster probably signed the Sitters’ Book in 1899 as a visitor to the artist’s studio, and it was not until 1913 when he visited London that de László painted his portrait. Oakley Williams thus described the present work: “[It] conveys that atmosphere of scholarship and culture which his personality suggests. Resting easily against a classical column, the finely-chiselled sensitive face supported on one long delicate hand, and the steady contemplative eyes, stand out against the dark background like a cameo [...] The rich blue lining of the cloak [...] gives the note to the whole colour scheme. The keen narrow head, the pointed beard and white moustaches, recall the portraits of Van Dyck’s accomplished cavaliers.”^[2] 

The portrait was a token of de László's gratitude to Forster, who as vice president of the Hungarian Fine Art Society, supported the artist’s ennoblement by Emperor Francis Joseph in March 1912.^[3] Forster had championed de László’s cause as early as 1906.^[4] When the grant of arms was finally assured, he helped de László with the choice of motto^[5] and arranged for the coat of arms to be painted. Alluding to the long delay, he added that he wished “to some extent to be able to rectify the unworthy treatment that you have experienced.”^[6] It is noteworthy that de László signed this portrait with an ‘L’ before his name, for “Lombosi” (de Lombos), his title of nobility. This was the only occasion on which he signed a painting in this way.  

The long inscription in the Sitters’ Book shows how deeply the eminent scholar appreciated the much younger man’s personal qualities as well as his art. A lasting friendship developed between them and they remained in touch until Forster’s death in 1932. When de László heard the news, he wrote to a friend: “One less of those fine old trees, of which there are now few left. He will live in my memory as long as I am here, for he did so much for me in my career, and has been an unselfish and loyal friend.”^[7]

Gyula Forster was born in Esztergom, the town on the Danube dominated by the great basilica^[8] and seat of the Primate of Hungary, on 21 December 1846, the son of János Forster (1810-1891) and his wife, née Anna Fehér (died 1870). His father was superintendent of the estates of the Primate’s see and the Seminaries of Esztergom and Pest. Forster studied Law at the University of Pest and then at the Collège de France in Paris. In 1872 he joined the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, where he became head of the section concerned with fine arts and historical monuments. In 1895 he was appointed chairman of the National Commission on Artistic Monuments.  He played an important role in the preservation and restoration of many historic buildings and works of art. In 1906 he was created a Baron^[9] with the title of Baron Forster de Pusztakér, and became a permanent member of the House of Magnates and a Privy Counsellor. He was the author of numerous historical studies and edited Magyarország Műemlékei [Historical Monuments of Hungary] in four volumes, 1905-6. He was a member of the directorate and an Honorary Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and vice president of the Hungarian Fine Art Society. In 1999 Hungary established a Forster Medal and Prize in his memory, awarded annually for outstanding achievement related to the preservation of historic buildings and works of art.

Forster married Erzsébet Luczenbacher de Szob (1854-1943), with whom he had four sons. He died in Budapest on 18 July 1932. His third son, Baron Dezső Forster (1879-1950) was drawn by de László in 1927 [11374].  

PROVENANCE
Baron Gyula Forster, Budapest;
Sold at Nagyházi Gallery, Budapest, 12 May 2009, lot 160

EXHIBITED
•Műcsarnok, Országos Magyar Képzőművészeti Társulat [Hungarian Fine Art Society], Budapest, Téli kiállítás [Winter Exhibition], 1913-14, no. 56

•Műcsarnok, Budapest, Országos Magyar Képzőművészeti Társulat [Hungarian Fine Art Society], Tavaszi kiállítás és László Fülöp, Munkácsy Mihály, Pentelei Molnár János, valamit Petz Samu és Hűvös László összegyűjtött műveinek kiállítása [Spring Exhibition and Retrospectives of Philip de László, Mihály Munkácsy, János Pentelei Molnár, Samu Petz and László Hűvös], 4 May – 30 June 1925, no. 29

LITERATURE
•Vita d'Arte, sixth year, vol. XII., October 1913, no.  70, p.115, ill.
•Országos Magyar Képzőművészeti Társulat [Hungarian Fine Art Society]:  1913/14 -ik évi téli kiállítás  tárgymutatója, [Index of the 1913/14 Winter Exhibition], Budapest, 1913, no. 56, ill.
•Williams, Oakley, Selections from the Work of P. A. de László, Foreword by comte Robert de Montesquiou, Hutchinson, London, 1921, pp. 229-232, ill.
•Rutter, Owen, Portrait of a Painter, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1939, pp. 274, 275, 293, 316, 336, & 372
•Hart-Davis, Duff, in collaboration with Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, Philip de László. His Life and Art, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2010, p. 139

•Field, Katherine ed., Transcribed by Susan de Laszlo, The Diaries of Lucy de László Volume I: (1890-1913), de Laszlo Archive Trust, 2019, p. 220, ill.

•Field, Katherine ed., Gábor Bellák and Beáta Somfalvi, Philip de László (1869-1937); "I am an Artist of the World", Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, 2019, pp. 25, 86

•DLA039-0046, postcard from Bishop Vilmos Fraknói to de László, 29 March 1906
•DLA039-0062, letter from Baron Gyula Forster to de László, 9 March 1912
•DLA039-0063, letter from Baron Gyula Forster to de László, 27 March 1912
•DLA 039-0064, draft letter from de László to Count Gyula Andrássy, 10 April 1912

•DLA162-0451, Pesti Hírlap, 27 July 1913, p. 7

•DLA162-0374, Pesti Hírlap, 22 November 1913, p. 11

•DLA162-0106, Pesti Hírlap, 7 December 1913, p. 10

•László, Lucy de, 1913 diary, p. 91

•DLA162-0270, Pesti Hírlap, 16 May 1925, p. 5

We are grateful to Dr. Gergely Sallay for identifying the decorations worn by the sitter.

Pd’O 2011