4605

Baroness Leo d'Erlanger, née Edwina Louise Prue c. 1932

Seated three-quarter length in profile to the left, wearing a white evening dress with a purple sash, holding a fan or decorated mirror in her lap, a golden laurel wreath in her hair, a curtain just indicated behind

Oil on canvas, 114.5 x 87.5 cm (45 ¼ x 34 ⅜ in.)

Studio Inventory, p. 90 (492): Mrs. Leo d'Erlanger. Re-stretched in 1938

Private Collection

This is one of two similar portraits executed during the same sittings which remained in the artist’s studio until his death. The second one was later destroyed. They were painted sometime between 1932 and 1935, when de László completed the successful full-length portrait of the Baroness [4609]. The laurel wreath was certainly a studio prop and was worn by a number of other distinguished sitters for their portraits, most notably the Duchess of Portland [4417] and the artist’s wife Lucy [7466].

Three letters in the de László archive written in 1932 suggest that the sitter’s portrait had just been commissioned: On 2 May 1932, de László wrote to say that he would like to see the sitter “with regard to [her] portrait.”^[1] The execution of the painting might have been postponed because of the illness of the sitter’s father-in-law, as the Baroness wrote to de László that she would be ‘detained’ in Tunisia at least ‘until the last of September,’ because of Rodolphe d’Erlanger’s critical condition.^[2] Baron Rodolphe died in October 1932, and the note the sitter sent to de László to thank him for his condolences was sent from Park House, her residence in London. At the end of this note, she wrote: “As soon as my skin is a bit whiter I shall get in touch with you and hope we can continue my portrait.” Thus it may be assumed that de László had started the present portrait before the sitter went to Tunisia and, because of the family circumstances and de László’s busy schedule, the portrait was abandoned for a while.

For biographical notes on the sitter, see [4609].

PROVENANCE:  

In the possession of the artist on his death

EXHIBITED:          

•Mallett and Son (Antiques) Limited, Predominantly People, Autumn 1996, no. 20

LITERATURE:          

•New York Times, “In Tunisia, a Rare Visit to a Palace and its Owner,” by Alan Cowell, 23 July 1987, p. 15

•DLA067-0081, letter from de László to Edwina d’Erlanger, 2 May 1932

•DLA067-0065, letter from Edwina d’Erlanger to de László, [1932]

•DLA067-0066, letter from Edwina d’Erlanger to de László, [1932]

•DLA156-0011, letter from Kristian Kreković to Lucy de László, 25 November 1937

CC 2008