2823

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Teck 1906

Seated three-quarter-length, slightly to the left, head turned and looking to the right, wearing ceremonial uniform of the 1st Lifeguards, holding his sword in the crook of his left elbow, his left hand resting on his thigh, his right hand holding his helmet on his right knee

Oil on canvas, 140.3 x 116.2 cm (55 ¼ x 45 ¾ in.)

Inscribed lower right: László F E / Vienne / 1906

Sitters’ Book I, f. 72: Teck Feb. 25th 1906

The Collection of the Household Cavalry

De László moved with his family from Budapest to Vienna in 1904. He changed studios in 1906 and this portrait, and that of the Duke’s wife, Margaret of Teck [3902] were painted there. The artist’s wife Lucy recorded the sittings in her diary: “Fülöp is in a new Studio since about a week ago. On Monday he began to paint in it. His two first sitters in it were the Duke of Teck and the Archduchess Marie Therese [12900]. I wonder how the Duke has been getting on. The Atelier is v nice and L. is del. with the good light, he arranged it all so quickly. It is 4 minutes from our flat in the Heugasse 12, where we’ve been since last September … It was through Count Larisch [110766] that F. got the Duke of Teck to sit to him. He and the Duchess both came to the studio with Count L. He (the D) said “I hear you want to paint me” and so the thing began. The Duchess thanked him twice for his wish to paint him, said that his sister had often wished him to sit for this picture. Since the pic. has been begun the Duchess came to see it, and said to F. “I can’t tell you how glad I am you are painting my husband.”^[1]

De László also painted the Duke’s maternal uncle, George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge in 1901 [3051], untraced, and his sister-in-law, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone in 1928 [2447] and 1932 [2238]. A rejected version remained in the artist’s studio until his death [112363]. It is smaller than the present picture and suggests the artist needed a larger canvas to do justice to the composition and particularly the uniform of the 1st Lifeguards with its silvered cuirass and elaborate helmet with white plume set against the red tunic and cloak.  

Prince Adolphus of Teck was born at Kensington Palace, London 13 August 1868, the eldest son of Francis, Duke of Teck (1837-1900) and Princess Mary Adelaide (1833-1897), daughter of Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge, son of George III. Adolphus was educated at Wellington College and then at the Royal Military College Sandhurst. In April 1888 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 17th Lancers, the regiment of his uncle, the 2nd Duke of Cambridge, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army 1856–1895. In 1895 he transferred as a Captain to the 1st Lifeguards, the senior regiment of the British Army.

The portrait was painted while he was posted in Vienna as a military attaché from 1904 to 1909. During the First World War he commanded the Lifeguards and also served as Military Secretary General and as personal aide-de-camp to King George V. He was appointed Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle in 1914. In 1917, in accordance with the wishes of George V, he renounced his German titles and assumed the surname of Cambridge by Royal Warrant, becoming the Marquess of Cambridge. He was a Knight of Justice of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in England.

On 12 December 1894 the Duke married Lady Margaret Grosvenor, daughter of the 1st Duke of Westminster. There were four children of the marriage: George, Earl of Eltham (born 1895), Lady Victoria (born 1897), Lady Helena (born 1899) and Lord Frederick (born 1907).

He died 23 October 1927 and was buried at St George’s Chapel, Windsor before later being moved to the Royal burial ground at Frogmore.

EXHIBITED:

•Galerie des Artistes modernes, Les Onze, Paris, March 1907
•Nemzeti Szalon, Budapest, László Fülöp műveinek gyűjteményes kiállítása [Exhibition of Works by László Fülöp], April 1907, no. 88

LITERATURE:

•The Magazine of Fine Arts, Vol. 2, no. 10, London, George Newnes Ltd., August 1906, p. 287, ill.

•Schleinitz, O. von, Künstler Monographien, Vol. 106: Ph. A. von László, Bielefeld & Leipzig, 1913, ill. p. 68, pl. 79

•Hart-Davis, Duff, in collaboration with Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, De László: His Life and Art, Yale University Press, 2010, p. 95        

•Field, Katherine ed., Transcribed by Susan de Laszlo, The Diaries of Lucy de László Volume I: (1890-1913), de Laszlo Archive Trust, 2019, p. 84, ill.

•Field, Katherine, Philip Alexius de László; 150th Anniversary Exhibition, de Laszlo Archive Trust, 2019, p. 19

•Field, Katherine ed., Gábor Bellák and Beáta Somfalvi, Philip de László (1869-1937); "I am an Artist of the World", Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, 2019, pp. 24, 39

•László, Lucy de, 1902-1911 diary, private collection, late June 1905 entry, p. 86

•DLA162-0102, Pesti Hírlap, 7 April 1907, p. 7

KF 2020