7116
Countess János Csekonics, née Baroness Leona Lipthay 1899
Seated half-length to the left in three-quarter profile, wearing a dark dress with short full sleeves and a starched upstanding lace collar behind, a distinctive tiara[1] and a single strand pearl choker with a pendant, an organza stole indicated around her left arm and in her lap,
Oil on canvas, 80 x 60 cm (31 ½ x 23 ⅝ in.)
Inscribed lower left: László F. E. / Bp. 1899
Sitters’ Book I, f. 15: Özv. Gf. Csekonics Jánosné 20/v99 / [in the artist’s hand: the large Golden medal.][2]
In February 1898 de László was commissioned by Countess István Károlyi[3] to paint her mother, Countess Csekonics. It was a particularly busy period for the artist as the success of his recent exhibitions in Germany brought him numerous commissions there. He was invited to visit England for the first time in September to paint Mrs Joseph Grafton Minot and her son [6333]. His first encounter with English portrait painting greatly inspired him and in a letter to his mentor Elek Lippich shortly after his return de László wrote: “As I am at present completely under the influence of Reynolds' broad brush work, I am trying to make my handling simple and vigorous. Because, my dear Elek, the treasures of London museums are deeply engraved into my heart. Reynolds, Lawrence,Watts, Gainsborough were great, great portraitists.''[4] The present portrait shows this influence in the freer treatment of the clothing and in the sitters’ dress. The historical costumes at the Devonshire House Ball, held to celebrate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897[5] influenced fashionable dress across Europe and the Elizabethan style worn by the sitter and Irma Fürstin zu Fürstenberg [112072], also painted in 1899, are examples.
De László had originally hoped to paint the Countess in March 1898 but was so busy that the sittings were postponed until May.[6] He travelled to Budapest in May 1898 but there is no record that the portrait was started then. A letter written from London on 31 August to Elek Lippich indicates that the artist was planning to return to Budapest by 4 November to paint Countess Csekonics and Baroness Szentkereszty [111028] so both could be submitted to the Winter Exhibition of the Hungarian Fine Art Society by the 15th.[7] The portrait of the Baroness was submitted but the present portrait was not completed until May 1899,[8] by which time the artist had moved into the newly built studio house he had designed in an elegant area of Pest and in the same street as Lippich.[9] The portrait was hugely successful and widely exhibited; it was awarded the Hungarian Great State Gold Medal in 1900.
In 1935 de László was in Budapest to paint the Regent of Hungary, Admiral Horthy [110886]. He visited Countess Károlyi in the Károlyi Palace and wrote in his diary: "I saw the portrait of her mother...the once famous domineering woman... it gave me a thrill to see it ... 37 years has since passed & the portrait is just as if yesterday finished...I may [have] painted it differently today - but it represents a period!"[10]
Baroness Leona Lipthay de Kisfalud et Lubelle was born 30 August 1821 on the family estate in Lovrin,[11] daughter of Baron Frigyes Lipthay (1785-1839) and his wife Karolina Csekonics (1789-1871). In 1839, the year of her father’s death, she married her mother’s half-brother Count János Csekonics de Zsombolya et Janova (1809-1880), son of József Csekonics (1757-1824). He was captain of a cuirassier regiment who established the famous Imperial and Royal Stud at Bábolna. They had three children, Ágota (who died in infancy), Endre (born 1846) and Margit (born 1848), who was later Countess István Károlyi and inherited the portrait on the death of her mother.
Countess Csekonics was lady-in-waiting to the Imperial Court and Lady of the Star Cross Order. For her patriotic actions during the Revolution of 1848-49 she was sent to the Újépület prison.[12] Later she was actively involved in charities, and often performed on stage at charity events with other members of élite society. In later life she lived on the family estate in Zsombolya,[13] where her son Endre had commissioned a castle designed by Miklós Ybl, the most influential Hungarian architect of the 19th century.[14] She died there on 27 April 1903.
PROVENANCE:
Countess István Károlyi, daughter of the sitter, 1903
EXHIBITED:
•Conversationshaus, Baden Baden 1899, no. 15
•Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, October 1899[15]
•Frankfurter Kunstverein, 1899
•Műcsarnok, Hungarian Fine Art Society, Budapest, Téli kiállítás [Winter Exhibition], 1899-1900, no. 470
•Galerie Schulte, Berlin, 1900
•Paris, Exposition Universelle, 1900, p. 437, no. 77, la comtesse de Csckonics [sic]
•Künstlerhaus, Vienna, 1901, no. 264
•Nemzeti Szalon, Budapest, 1907, Exhibition of Works by László Fülöp, no. 27[16]
•Műcsarnok, Hungarian Fine Art Society, Budapest, 1914
•Műcsarnok, Budapest, Hungarian Fine Art Society Spring Exhibition and Retrospectives of Philip de László, Mihály Munkácsy, János Pentelei Molnár, Samu Petz and László Hűvös, 4 May – 30 June 1925 [Műcsarnok, Országos Magyar Képzőművészeti Társulat, Budapest, Tavaszi kiállítás és László Fülöp, Munkácsy Mihály, Pentelei Molnár János, valamit Petz Samu és Hűvös László összegyűjtött műveinek kiállítása, 1925. május 4 – június 30.], no. 13
LITERATURE:
•Schleinitz, Otto von, Künstler Monographien, no. 106, Ph. A. von László, Bielefeld
und Leipzig, Velhagen & Klasing, 1913, p. 40
•Lukács, György, A magyar kultúra története [The History of Hungarian Culture], p. 321, ill.
•Csekonics, Endre, 363 vadásznap országában [In the Country of 363 Hunting Days], 1943
•Hart-Davis, Duff, László Fülöp élete és festészete [Philip de László's Life and Painting], Corvina, Budapest, 2019, ill. 41, p. 284
•NSzL150-0050, letter from de László to Elek Lippich, 8 February 1898
•NSzL150-0053, letter from de László to Elek Lippich, 9 March 1898
•NSzL150-0061, letter from de László to Elek Lippich, 31 August 1898
•NSzL150-0063, letter from de László to Elek Lippich, 20 September 1898
•NSzL150-0064, letter from de László to Elek Lippich, 12 October 1898
•NSzL150-0071, card from de László to Elek Lippich, 21 March 1899
•NSzL150-0075, letter from de László to Elek Lippich, 28 April 1899
•DLA070-0115, letter from Countess István Károlyi to de László, 26 May 1899
•DLA090-0050, Dr. Gabriel von Térey, “Brief aus Baden-Baden" [Letter from Baden-Baden], Pester Lloyd, 20 August 1899, p. 5
•DLA090-0289, German press cutting, October 1899
•DLA091-0012, German press cutting, 24 October 1899
•DLA043-0046, Dr. Gabriel von Térey, “Die Winterausstellung im Künstlerhause”, Pester Lloyd, 20 December 1899
•DLA031-0017, card from Countess Csekonics to de László, [undated, presumably 1899]
•DLA090-0031, German press cutting, [undated, presumably 1899]
•DLA090-0033, German press cutting, [undated, presumably 1899]
•DLA090-0193, “Kunstausstellung im Conversationshaus”, German press cutting, [undated, presumably 1899]
•DLA029-0100, letter from Elek Lippich to de László, 16 January 1900
•DLA066-0024, letter from Fürstin and Duchess von Pless to de László, 19 March 1900
•Kunst und Kunsthandwerk. vol. V, Vienna: von Artaria & co., 1900, p. 204, ill.
•DLA090-0250, “Aus dem Wiener Künstlerhause” [From the Vienna Künstlerhaus], Pester Lloyd, 22 March 1901, p. 2
•DLA066-0078, letter from Gábor Térey to de László, 8 October 1905
•Modern Festők, December 1905, ill.
•NSzL149-0010, letter from de László to Lajos Ernst, 21 March 1907
•DLA 1911 parcel, Művészet, March 1911, ill.
•DLA162-0270, Pesti Hírlap, 16 May 1925, p. 5
•DLA030-0040, letter from Béla Lázár to de László, 27 October 1925
•László, Philip de, 1935 diary, private collection, 14 March entry, p. 67
BS 2014
[1] DLA043-0046, op. cit. The tiara, or headdress, is mentioned in this correspondence as being black and yellow
[2] The sitter’s daughter, Countess István Károlyi, her son, Count Endre Csekonics and two of her grandsons, Counts Gyula and Pál Csekonics also signed the Sitters’ Book in May 1899. If de László did paint these members of the family, the portraits remain untraced
[3] Née Countess Margit Csekonics (1848-1936). See NSzL150-0053
[4] NSzL150-0063, op. cit. Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), English portrait painter, first President of the Royal Academy, Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830), English portrait painter, President of the Royal Academy, George Frederic Watts (1817-1904), English painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement, Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), English portrait and landscape painter
[5] One of Europe’s biggest society events of 1897. Many of the ladies were wearing elaborate high collars and ruffs dressed as historical figures such as Mary Queen of Scots, Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia and Empress Maria Theresa. The guests were photographed by Lafayette and the images widely circulated.
[6] NSzL150-0061, op. cit.
[7] Ibid.
[8] DLA070-0115, op. cit., asking the artist to wait for the glazing of the portrait until the paint was completely dry
[9] László, Philip de, 1935 diary, op. cit., p. 67
[10] László, Philip de, 1935 diary, op. cit.
[11] In the Bánát, now western Romania
[12] The Újépület (New Building) was a notorious military building in Pest, built in the 18th century. After the failure of the Revolution, hundreds of patriots were locked up there. Count Lajos Batthyány, prime minister in the 1848 independent government, was executed by the walls of this building in 1849
[13] Now Jimbolia, in western Romania
[14] Miklós Ybl (1814-1891); the Zsombolya castle was built in 1870
[15] DLA090-0289 & DLA091-0012, op cit.
[16] Dated 1898 in the catalogue; property of Countess István Károlyi