DLA016-0058 Transcription
28th November, 1928.
My dear Stephen,
First of all we both congratulate you heartily on your long deferred opportunity of being Secretary of State. May you long enjoy this, most trusted position and in the hope that, in the near future, you will still advance higher. We rejoice in the good news.
Two interesting letters from you are now lying in front of me – your one dated Oct 18th,[1] which I received in Paris, and the second of November 3rd.[2] I am sure you will be surprised not yet to have heard from me, as it is not my usual way to keep my friends waiting so long, or that I wish to reciprocate for your long silence.
After a very busy time in Paris, I returned home with a very bad cold and was confined to bed where I had to stop for a time all my work. Since my recovery I have had to finish the portrait of the pretty Princess Alice of Athlone [2447], sister-in-law to our Queen here. Now I am painting the Home Secretary, Sir William Joynson-Hick [2900], and many other interesting people. Owing to my illness and long absence so much has accumulated, as I was away with Lucy more than two months.
At present we are preparing for a dinner-party and reception which we are giving in honour of an old friend of mine, Marshall Lyautey of France,[3] the dinner will be. a most interesting one, as among others there will be Sir Austen and Lady Chamberlain.[4]
In Paris, amongst others, I painted a picture of the Salle de l’Horloge [9320], where the Kellogg Peace Pact was
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signed, which picture will be placed by President Coolidge[5] permanently at White House.
When our party is over we have to begin to make preparations for our most interesting Journey to Egypt, to which we are both very much looking forward, as I told you I have been invited to paint two large portraits of King Fuad [113256] [4094] [110671].[6] Our days in Cairo will certainly be very attractive and after I have finished the portraits we intend to remain five or six weeks longer for a rest and to do some studies for my own pleasure of the Nile and Egypt.[7] We leave on January 4th and shall return only by the end of March.
We have had here both the Scitovskys and enjoyed their company very much.[8]
I am pleased to hear that the Regent consented to have his portraits [5684] [5691] shown and also the Prime Minister [2487].[9]
The Paris Exhibition is still uncertain, but my exhibition here in London will open on May 15th for six weeks.[10]
It will be an unusual exhibition in commemoration of my 60th birthday.
I am still looking forward to receive the two coloured reproductions dedicated by the Regent and Prime Minister. I hope they will arrive here, at least for a Christmas present.
I was interested to hear that my two portraits were both exhibited in Scandanavian States.[11] It is strange that none of the officials who have arranged these exhibitions have never found it necessary to send me any intimation about them.
So my adversary has been appointed Professor – I have not done this to be thanked – which I do not accept from that noble gentleman![12]
My picture of the Gardist [10498] has, at last arrived – scratched all over – I cannot understand how it was not cut into a dozen pieces as, most stupidly, the picture was sent with its heavy glass and arrived broken in many bits.[13] I am going to touch it up and am pleased to have it here.
Have you heard how far the selling of the coloured copies of the Regent and Count Bethlen succeeded?
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I am so pleased you and your family were present to congratulate Rakosi and it is a great consolation to me to have made use of his presence in London and to have done that portrait sketch of him [6729], which I hope they will exhibit next time in Budapest.
Have you lately seen Martzie?[14]
I do not want to keep you longer to-day, Lucy and myself are sending to your dear family our very best wishes and kindest regards.
Looking, forward to hearing from you, | Believe me, dear Friend, | Always yours very affectionately,
A. Son Excellence,
Dr. Stephen de Barczy-,
Var.
Uri- Utza 64,
BUDAPEST.
Editorial Note:
István Bárczy de Bárcziháza (1882-1952), Private Secretary to successive Hungarian Prime Ministers, later Permanent Undersecretary of State in the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office and close friend of de László; for biographical notes, see [111342].
ACW
05/08/2009
[1] DLA016-0056, letter from István Bárczy de Bárcziháza to de László, 18 October 1928
[2] DLA016-0057, letter from István Bárczy de Bárcziháza to de László, 3 November 1928
[3] Maréchal Louis Hubert Lyautey (1854-1934) [6118], Marshal of France and colonial administrator
[4] Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain (1863-1937) [3797], British statesman who twice served as Chancellor of the Exchequer and, from 1924 to 1929, as Foreign Secretary; and his wife, Lady Chamberlain, née Ivy Muriel Dundas (1878-1941) [3801]
[5] Calvin Coolidge, né John Calvin Coolidge Jr (1872-1933) [4169], 30th President of the United States of America
[6] [113256] was the first portrait de László painted of King Fuad I of Egypt (1868-1936); [4094] was begun the following day. A third portrait was commissioned [110671], together with one of the King’s son, Prince Farouk, later King Farouk I of Egypt (1920-1965) [4122].
[7] Once de László’s commission was completed, he was joined by his wife, Lucy (1870-1950) [11474], and their 13-year-old son, Paul (1906-1983) [13214]. Together they journeyed up the Nile, visiting Karnak, Luxor and Aswan. During this trip, de László made a number of oil studies, including several landscapes and portraits. He also experimented with watercolour.
[8] Probably Tibor de Scitovszky (1875-1959) [4859], Hungarian politician; and his wife, Madame Tibor de Scitovszky, née Hanna Hódosi (1886-1977) [4862]
[9] In Bárczy’s letter of 18th October 1928, he writes that Regent Horthy consented to the exhibition of his large portrait [5684] and sketches of both himself [5691] and his wife [10456] at Charpentier in Paris and the French Gallery in London (The French Gallery, London, A Series of Portraits and Studies By Philip A. de László, M.V.O., May-June, 1929). Count and Countess István Bethlen also agreed to the exhibition of their portraits [2487] [10458] at the same Charpentier and French Gallery exhibitions; see DLA016-0056, op. cit.
[10] The French Gallery, op. cit.
[11] See DLA016-0056, op. cit., in which Bárczy writes that the Hungarian sculptor Zsigmond Kisfaludi Strobl (1884-1975) had recently returned from Stockholm where de László’s portraits of Regent Horthy and Count Bethlen were very much admired. See also DLA030-0022, letter from Géza Paur to de László, 22 September 1928, in which Paur mentions the exhibition in Stockholm.
[12] The Hungarian painter, Bertalan Karlovszky (1858-1938), had recently been appointed Professor to the Academy, an appointment which, according to Bárczy, was entirely due to de László, and this despite Karlovszky and his wife’s poor behaviour towards de László, see DLA016-0056, op. cit.
[13] Géza Paur mentions the shipping and insurance arrangements for [10498] in his letter DLA030-0022, op. cit.
[14] Presumably Marczell ‘Marczi’ Laszlo (1871-1940) [6521], de László’s younger brother