112461

DESTROYED

Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, née Duchess Elisabeth Valerie in Bavaria 1925

Head only, full face and looking to the right

Oil on board, 40.6 x 38.1 cm (16 x 15 in.)

Indistinctly inscribed lower right: Study for Queen of the Belgians / 1925 VII

Sitters’ Book II, f. 45: Elisabeth / Welbeck / August 4th 1925

Studio Inventory, p. 51 (258): Head of Elisabeth, Queen of the Belgians. Painted in London.

This portrait is unusual for the degree of finish in the painting of the face, not typical of de László’s preparatory studies. It differs in composition from the two other portraits of Queen Elisabeth [3336] [7870] completed that year at Welbeck Abbey, which are in three-quarter profile. The presence of a signature suggests that the artist may have intended to keep it for himself as a memento of the sittings. The Studio Inventory notes that the present picture was painted in London but it seems probable that it was painted at the same time as the other two portraits of the Queen.

De László met the sitter again in 1934 when he painted three posthumous portraits of her husband King Albert I of Belgium [7864] [111346] [7867].

For biographical notes on the sitter, see [7870].

KF 2020