DLA039-0052 Translation
PESTI HIRLAP
BUDAPEST V, VILMOS CSÁSZÁR-ÚT 78.
EDITOR’S OFFICE
7th February 1935.[1]
My dear Philip,
I was pleased to receive your letter and pleased to see that your zeal for work is even greater, if that is possible, in that beautiful and distinguished environment where you are currently staying. The world can once again await a true masterpiece from you.
The twenty minutes that I spent with you at the railway station will always remain one of the memorable moments of my life. In keeping with your wishes, I have been careful not to tell anybody about your journey. I have written even less in our newspaper – there I have mentioned very briefly, after receiving your letter, that you are in Bucharest and that you are painting the Queen [3211].[2]
I have told our friends here who wanted their portraits painted by you, the sad news that this will not be possible at present.[3] They acknowledged this with regret. Of course, they are not able to say now whether they will be able to go to Paris in the summer. Ottó Légrády, to whom I tried to present all this in the best possible light, was particularly impressed by the fact that you mentioned that if you were able to work in isolation in a chateau in Hungary, then it might be feasible. Let us hope that this will arrange itself in due course. At any rate, your point of view was appreciated by everybody.
The work on your book is continuing.[4] I don’t think it will be ready by the time you finish your work in Bucharest. I shall send you the first copy as soon as possible. In order to find you you will have to send me a postcard from time to time to tell me where you are. This applies to your first copy, so that you can see what the book looks like.
But the signing of all the copies remains to be done. For this I shall have to send you all the first pages, or possibly the relevant double pages. As to where I should send them, we will have to discuss this by correspondence, as this is still some weeks away.
So I wish you success in your work, and have a pleasant time! My wife joins me in sending you our affectionate greetings.
Yours truly,
László [Siklóssy]
Editorial Note:
Doctor László Siklóssy de Pernesz (1881–1951), Hungarian art critic; for biographical notes, see [111404].
Pd’O
23/04/2008
[1] On the basis of the letter’s contents, the year should read “1936”; see fn. 2 below.
[2] De László spent six weeks in Bucharest during February and March 1936, having been commissioned by the National Bank of Romania to paint portraits of King Carol II [4220], his mother Queen Marie [3211], and a posthumous portrait of King Ferdinand [4217].
[3] There had been a long-standing plan for de László to paint the portraits of the lawyer and county prefect Elemér Preszly (1877–1971), Doctor Ottó Légrády (1878–1948), editor-in-chief of the Pesti Hírlap newspaper, and playwright Ferenc Herczeg (1863–1954). The plan kept being deferred because of de László’s failure to go to Hungary.
[4] Hogyan fest arcképet László Fülöp? Fordította és életrajzi bevezetéssel ellátta Siklóssy László, Budapest, 1936 [Hungarian edition of Charles G. Holme, ed., How To Do It Series, No.6: Painting a Portrait by P.A. de László, recorded by A.L. Baldry, New York and London, 1934]