9760

Preparatory work

Mary Ridgely Carter, later Mrs James Montgomery Beck 1934 

Standing full-length, wearing a white evening dress with a stole, a dog standing on her right, against a stormy landscape

Oil on board, 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)

Sitters’ Book II, f. 78: Mary Ridgely Carter July 20th 1934

Studio Inventory, p. 60 (315): Study, Miss Carter. Study for the completed picture now in Philadelphia, U.S.A in the possession of the Carter family. / Painted in London.

The sitter’s mother did not approve de László’s first oil study [9759] of Mary, wearing the artist’s choice of a gold taffeta dress. Mrs George Carter admired the portrait of Lady Buchanan-Jardine [3739] in de László’s studio and wished her daughter’s portrait to be similar in composition and style of dress. With this in mind, the artist’s second study includes a slight sketch of a dog for which a Borzoi would be used in the formal portrait [9636] and depicts the sitter in a white dress with a blue sash.

The artist’s diary entry for 23 April: “During the morning did a second - & very successful sketch of the attractive Miss Carter – it will be full length in white & blue – she is graceful and inspiring.”^[1] The formal portrait [9636] was not completed until July 1934, when Mary signed the artist’s sitters’ book on the 20th of that month.

For biographical notes on the sitter, see [9636].

PROVENANCE:

In the possession of the artist on his death;

Presented by the artist’s family to the sitter’s family, 1960

LITERATURE:

•László, Philip de, 1934 diary, private collection

MD 2014