2767

DESTROYED

Lady Stanley of Alderley, née Mary Katharine Bell 1919

Half-length to the right, full face, wearing the uniform of a Red Cross nurse, her right hand raised to her face, all against a grey background

Oil on canvas, [dimensions unknown]

Indistinctly inscribed lower right: de László […]

Sitter’s Book II, f. 12: Dec 6 1919 Maisie Sheffield  Alderley Park.

On 16 October 1916, Lady Stanley wrote to de László: “Lyulph [Lord Stanley of Alderley] is (I think rather foolishly!) anxious to have a picture of me done in the Red Cross Commandants dress. It is rather a unpaintable costume I am afraid (Red dress, dead white apron collar and cap), and I wonder if you would and could make a rather sketchy picture of me for him. Before you accept or decline, I would like you to see me in the uniform. I shall be in London early in November and could see you about it.”^[1] The fact that he undertook this commission demonstrates that he was not averse to painting her in her uniform, but he prevaricated at the time and was undoubtedly very busy. He was then prevented from painting after his arrest in 1917. He would have finished this picture soon after his release in June 1919 as a mark of his special gratitude to the Stanleys for their support during his internment.

Lord Stanley was very pleased with the resulting portrait, which de László painted while staying with the Stanleys at their home, Alderley House, Macclesfield, Cheshire. On 14 December 1919, he wrote to say that his family was “delighted at the striking loving and attractive portrait which hangs in the place of honour,”^[2] and for which he paid £200.^[3] During his stay at Alderley House, de László also painted the portrait of Lord Stanley [2065], and offered it to him as a token of his thankfulness.

Because of the provenance of the present work, it remains unclear whether it is actually the one that was painted at the request of Lord Stanley. If it was indeed in the possession of the artist on his death, it is possible that it is only a rejected version of Lady Stanley’s portrait, which he kept. However, the present painting is not listed amongst the works recorded in the artist’s studio inventory. According to a descendant of the sitter, Lady Stanley’s portrait in Red Cross uniform hung in the Tenants’ Hall at Alderley House. Apparently when Imperial Chemical Industries purchased the house, a plaque was put up underneath the picture, but after that time there was no record of any family possessions remaining there. There was a sale of portraits belonging to the Stanleys at Christie’s in 1938, but it did not include any works by de László. It is possible that the painting was returned to the artist’s family then.

For biographical notes on the sitter, see [3870].

PROVENANCE:

In the possession of the artist on his death;

Paul Leonardo de Laszlo, his third son;

By descent in the family;

Destroyed in a warehouse fire in 1989

LITERATURE:

•DLA048-0004, letter from Lady Stanley to de László, 16 October 1916

•DLA048-0037, letter from Lord Stanley to de László, 14 December 1919

CC  2008