8804

Elaine Hélène Greffulhe, duchesse de Guiche 1905

Seated three-quarter length in three-quarter profile to the left in a gilt chair looking to the viewer, her left hand raised to her breast, her right resting on her knee, wearing a cream and yellow gown and a large feathered hat

Oil on board, 105 x 77.5 cm (41 ⅜ x 30 ½ in.)

Inscribed lower left: László F.E. / Paris / 1905   

Private Collection

This portrait is the first one de László painted of Armand de Gramont’s wife, Elaine Greffulhe. Over the years 1901-1931, Armand de Gramont would prove to be one of the artist’s greatest patrons. An abundant correspondence between de László and the duc and duchesse de Gramont bears witness to the long-lasting friendship that existed between them. The present portrait was executed only a short while after the sitter’s wedding. As Elaine and her husband were amongst de László’s closest friends, he almost invariably stayed with the de Gramonts when working in Paris. According to Armand de Gramont, the artist painted many spontaneous portraits of them during these visits.^[1] In this respect, more portraits of Elaine might still be traced. There also exists a study portrait of the sitter dated 1925 [5515].

The hat the sitter is wearing is almost certainly de László’s studio hat, worn by a great many distinguished ladies for their portraits, especially in the first decade of the 20th century. For example Princess Louise of Battenberg, later Queen of Sweden, 1907  [3481] and Crown Princess Cecilie, née Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg, 1908 [4489].

Elaine Hélène Greffulhe, born on 19 March 1882, was the only daughter of Henry, Comte Greffulhe and of Princesse Elisabeth Caraman-Chimay, famous doyenne of Parisian arts and society over the turn of the century and one of Marcel Proust’s main sources of inspiration for the character of Oriane de Guermantes in In Search for Lost Time. Her godfather was Robert de Montesquiou [4151]. As a child prodigy, Elaine wrote some admirable poetry, which was published. Unfortunately, as she grew up, Elaine seemed not to live up to early expectations. The extraordinary beauty and wit of her mother Elisabeth Greffulhe [4247] seemed to condemn Elaine to remain in her shadow.

On 14 November 1904, Elaine married Armand [11801], eldest son of Antoine XI-Agénor, 11th duc de Gramont (1879-1962) [8752].  Elisabeth de Gramont, her sister-in-law, thus recalled her wedding day in her Mémoires: “Once, there was at the Church of the Madeleine a wedding where the bride’s mother was so beautiful when making her appearance on top of the steps, all dressed in gold and feathers – like Salammbô in front of the Tanit temple - that her daughter, although charming herself, seemed to be celebrating her wedding only to bring out maternal beauty.”^[2] Another guest, Ferdinand Bac, made a similar comment: “As fresh-looking as she was, the duchesse de Guiche looked older than her mother.”^[3]

There were five children of the marriage: four sons, Antoine (born 1907), Henri (born 1909), Jean (born 1909), Charles (born 1911), and a daughter, Corisande (born 1920). Their eldest son, Antoine, succeeded his father as 13th duc in 1962. Even though Elaine and Armand lived together in a certain harmony, Elaine was saddened by his unfaithfulness, but never sought to separate from him. She died in Paris on 11 February 1958.

PROVENANCE: 

By descent in the family

LITERATURE:

•Rutter, Owen, Portrait of a Painter, London, 1939 p. 353

•Gramont, Armand de, 12th duc (de), Unpublished Memoirs, in the possession of a descendant of the author), p. 131

•Ritter, Raymond, La Maison de Gramont 1040-1967, vol. II, Les Amis du Musée Pyrénéen, Tarbes, 1967, pl. XXII

•Diesbach, Ghislain (de), Proust, Perrin, Paris, 1991, p. 339

•Chaleyssin, Patrick. La Peinture mondaine de 1870 à 1960, Celia         Editions, Ermont, France, 1993, p. 16, pl. 16

•De Laszlo, Sandra, ed., & Christopher Wentworth-Stanley, asst. ed., A Brush with Grandeur, Paul Holberton publishing, London 2004, p. 92, fig. 62

•Hart-Davis, Duff, in collaboration with Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, De László: His Life and Art, Yale University Press, 2010, p. 81, 90

•Field, Katherine ed., Transcribed by Susan de Laszlo, The Diaries of Lucy de László Volume I: (1890-1913), de Laszlo Archive Trust, 2019, p. 85, ill.

•László, Lucy de, 1902-1911 diary, 23 December 1905 entry, p. 87

CC 2008