5297

Irma Fürstin zu Fürstenberg, née Countess Schönborn-Buchheim 1899

Standing three-quarter length in profile to the left, her head in semi-profile turned to the viewer, wearing a navy blue off-the-shoulder ball gown, its plunging décolletage edged with a bertha of cream lace, a matching stole draped over her left wrist, a diamond diadem tipped with a single large emerald, emerald earrings and two strands of pearls, a wedding ring and engagement ring visible, gold bracelet on her left wrist, holding a closed fan in her right hand, all against a grey background

Oil on canvas, 160 x 100 cm (63 x 39 ⅜ in.)

Inscribed lower right: László F. E. 1899 Aug [patched hole obscuring ‘1899’]

Inscribed upper left: IRMA / PRINCIPISSA [sic] / DE FUERSTENBERG 

Sitters’ Book I, f. 3: Irma Fürstin zu Fürstenberg / 26. März 1899 

Sitters’ Book I, f. 28: Irma Fürstin zu Fürstenberg / 24/7 1899.

Fürstenbergische Sammlungen, Schloss Weitra, Austria

In January 1899 de László was a guest of Viktor II, Duke of Ratibor (1847-1923) [7478] at Schloss Rauden in Germany and attended the funeral of the Duke’s mother, Princess Amélie, née Fürstenberg (1821-1899). He described the event in a letter to his friend and mentor Elek Lippich [112171]: “Delegates of all German princes came [to the funeral]. The Hereditary Princess of Meiningen was present – the Kaiser’s sister and grand-daughter of the Queen of England.” The artist met Irma Fürstin zu Fürstenberg at this time: “Princess Fürstenberg was also here, beautiful, stately, young blond woman – she also asked me to paint her. I promised her that in February, while in Vienna to make studies for the portrait of the Queen, would make some sketches of her and she could come to Pest for the sittings.^[1] Beautiful woman, I could paint a nice picture of her for the Paris exhibition. It will be good to get to know the Austrian aristocracy.”^[2] 

Owing to the funeral, de László’s departure from Rauden was delayed and he travelled to Berlin to paint the portraits of the German Chancellor Chlodwig Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst [4485] and Baroness Hugo von Reischach, née Princess Margarethe von Ratibor [11283]. He arrived in Vienna on 20 or 21 March, rather than February as anticipated.^[3] He then went to Budapest to finish the portrait of Countess Csekonics [7116].

Fürstin Irma signed the artist’s Sitters’ book 26 March and this is probably the date of her first sitting. In a letter to Lippich 12 April, de László writes that his first portrait was well advanced when he decided to abandon it [113138] and included a small drawing of his new idea [112949], which is identical to the present picture. A preparatory study [112356] suggests the original pose may have had the sitter turned towards the viewer with her head in three-quarter profile to the right. He also described his sitter: “she is a tall woman with brown hair and dark eyes, slender, wearing a dark green dress, which was made up after my drawing, with deep décolleté, nice wide old lace surrounds her bust – now much better and more beautiful.”^[4] The dress in the finished portrait has been changed to blue and the emeralds of the diadem and the necklace were most probably intended to complement the original colour of the dress. The dress is identical to that of Baroness Hugo von Stumm, née Ludovica von Rauch [6542] whom de László also painted in 1899. He sent her a letter with a drawing of the dress he wanted her to have made for her sittings and de László’s letter to Lippich suggests he requested the same of the Fürstin.

While in Vienna de László also painted a pendant portrait of the sitter’s husband Fürst Max Egon II Fürst zu Fürstenberg [3360] and a half-length portrait of their son Prince Karl Egon [5300]. The portraits of the Fürst and Fürstin were not completed by 17 April when the couple departed for their country estate, Schloss Donaueschingen in the Black Forest, and the artist arranged to visit them there in July to complete them. He wrote to Lippich to describe the estate: “The source of the mighty Danube is in his park. When he showed me that little spring it was astonishing to think that it was the source of the great stream which flowed into the Black Sea.”^[5] During his visit he also painted a half-length portrait of Fürstin Irma [112072] in Van Dyck dress, a study portrait of Max Egon in uniform [8925], a portrait of their daughter Leontine [3359], and one of the sitter’s grandmother Princess Trauttmansdorff [110813]. The artist received a fee of 6000 Gulden for the present portrait and 16,200 Gulden in all.^[6] 

The artist kept one of the preparatory studies he made for the picture in his studio until his death [112355] with that of her husband [112118]. He presented the couple with the preparatory head studies he made for their pendant portraits [5295] [5294] and these remain in the Fürstenberg collections at Weitra in Austria.

The Fürst and the artist remained good friends and Max Egon used his close relationship with Emperor Wilhelm II to encourage him to commission his own portrait. He sent the present portrait and his own with that of Chancellor Hohenlohe [4485] to the Kaiser who had not had time to see them in the exhibition at the Conversationshaus in Baden Baden at the end of the summer of 1899. The Kaiser “liked the pictures very much, although he made a few remarks about the painting of the Princess’s mouth.”^[7] De László painted the Empress Auguste Victoria [4960] and her daughter Princess Victoria Luise [5090] in November 1899 and two study portraits of the Emperor in 1908 [4789] [4958] and a full-length equestrian portrait between 1908 and 1911 [4952].  

De László also painted the Fürstin’s second cousin once removed, Count Ferdinand Kinsky [110971] in 1899, her brother Count Karl Erwein Schönborn [110795] and his wife [7130] in 1906 and her sister-in-law Countess Erwein Schönborn-Buchheim [3341] in 1922.

Countess Irma Schönborn-Buchheim was born on 19 May 1867, in Vienna, the third of six children of Count Erwein Friedrich Schönborn-Bucheim (1842-1903) and Franziska Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg (1844-1898). On 19 June 1889 in Vienna she married Max Egon II, Fürst zu Fürstenberg (1863-1941), son of Maximilian-Egon, Fürst zu Fürstenberg (1822-1873) and his wife, Leontine Countess von Khevenhüller-Metsch (1843-1914). They had five children, Karl Egon V (born in 1891), Leontine (born 1892), Anna (born 1894), Maximilian (born 1896) and Friedrich Eduard (born 1898).

The Fürstin died on 10 October 1948 at the family castle of Heiligenberg in Germany.

PROVENANCE:

By descent in the sitter’s family

EXHIBITED:

•Conversationshaus, Baden Baden, Collectiv Portrait Ausstellung, August-September 1899, no. 4

•Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, 1899^[8] 

•Künstlerhaus, Vienna, Künstlerhaus Annual Exhibition, May-June 1900

•Galerie Schulte, Berlin, 1900

•Schloss Weitra, Die Fürstenberger – 800 Jahre Herrschaft und Kultur in Mitteleuropa, Niederösterreichische Landesausstellung, 1994, no. VI / 30a

LITERATURE:

•Vasárnapi Újság, vol. 48, issue 28, Franklin- Társulat, Budapest, 14 July 1901, pp. 448-449

•Schleinitz, Otto von, Künstler Monographien, no. 106, Ph A. von László, Bielefeld and Leipzig (Velhagen & Klasing), 1913, pp. 52-56, ill. pl. 43

•Rutter, Owen, Portrait of a Painter, 1939, London, pp. 175, 183

•Schloss Weitra, Die Fürstenberger – 800 Jahre Herrschaft und Kultur in Mitteleuropa, Ueberreuter, Korneuburg, 1994, cat. no. VI / 30a., p. 489, p. 490, ill.

•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. 58

•Field, Katherine ed., Transcribed by Susan de Laszlo, The Diaries of Lucy de László Volume I: (1890-1913), de Laszlo Archive Trust, 2019, p. 50

•NSzL150-0067, letter from de László to Lippich, 24 January 1899

•NSzL150-0068, letter from de László to Elek Lippich, 3 March 1899

•NSzL150-0069, letter from de László to Elek Lippich, 9 March 1899

•DLA162-507, Pesti Hírlap, 31 March 1899, p. 4

•NSzL150-0072, letter from de László to Elek Lippich, 12 April 1899

•NSzL150-0073, letter from de László to Lippich, 22 April 1899

•DLA0162-0455, Pesti Hírlap, 27 April 1899, p. 6

•NSzL150-0081, letter from de László to Elek  Lippich, 13 July 1899

•NSzL150-0082, letter from de László to Elek Lippich, 9 August 1899

•NSzL150-0086, letter from de László to Elek Lippich, 16 September 1899

•DLA43-0053, German press cutting, August 1899

•DLA90-0131, German press cutting, 15 August 1899

•DLA090-0050, Dr Gabriel von Térey, “Brief aus Baden-Baden" [Letter from Baden-Baden], Pester Lloyd, 20 August 1899, p. 5

•DLA162-0362, Pesti Hírlap, 21 September 1899, p. 4

•DLA090-0193, “Kunstausstellung im Conversationshaus”, German press cutting, [undated, presumably 1899]

•DLA140-0154, Die Woche, issue 24, p. 930, ill.  [undated, presumably 1899]

•DLA90-0192, German press cutting, [undated]

•DLA90-0289, German press cutting, [undated]

•DLA140-0085, Abels, Ludwig, “Das Werk des Filipp E. László”, Kunst und Kunsthandwerk, vol. V, Vienna: von Artaria & Co., 1900, p. 202

BS & KF 2018