3603

Mrs Paul and Jeannine Bridgeman 1928

Mrs Bridgeman seated three-quarter length, wearing a blue dress; her daughter wearing a blue and gold frock with a ribbon on the neckline standing to her left and holding her mother's hand; the family Airedale, Jill, seated on the right, a tree set in a landscape background behind

Oil on canvas, 182.9 x 116.9 cm (72 x 46 in.)

Inscribed lower left: de László, 1928   

NPG Album, 1927-28, p. 23

Sitters’ Book II, opp. f. 58: Alice Bridgeman Feb. 8th 1928

Private Collection

The sitter’s husband Paul Bridgeman commissioned the present portrait in May 1927 through the agency of Baroness Schröder who was a mutual friend and notable patron of de László: “I consider Mr Laszlo is the greatest living artist today and knowing that he is a very great friend of yours, I was wondering whether you could persuade him to paint Alice’s picture.”^[1] Following Baroness Schröder’s introduction, the painter gladly agreed to meet Mrs Bridgeman and her daughter Jeannine at his studio to discuss the portrait,^[2] and subsequently took on the commission for a fee of 1,500 guineas.^[3] However, as de László was particularly busy at the time, it was decided that he would start the portrait in the autumn.^[4] 

In a letter dated 23 October 1927, Paul Bridgeman reminded de László about the portrait, and gave him more specific instructions as to what he wanted: “I had in mind a three-quarter length portrait about 54 x 44 inches, including the frame […]. Do you ever include a dog in your pictures because I have one, who is such an undisputed beauty, that I should very much like to include her, if that was possible!”^[5] This was agreed, and according to the artist’s correspondence, it seems de László eventually executed the portrait in January and February 1928,^[6] having had to cancel some of the sitting in order to finish the portrait of Princess Theodora of Greece [7851] in early January.^[7] The completion of the present portrait was further hampered by the fact that de László was dissatisfied with his first attempt at portraying Mrs Bridgeman. This resulted in his beginning the commission again, on a fresh canvas. The portrait of Jeannine from the abandoned painting was cut out and framed in an oval as a portrait in its own right [3612], while two preparatory drawings for this painting remained in the artist’s studio until his death. As was his habit, de László also drew a head of Mrs Bridgeman in sepia chalk as a souvenir of their sittings [3606]. According to relations of the sitters, de László painted four of the seven daughters of Herman Greverus Kleinwort, but to date, only the portrait of the fourth daughter, Mrs Trevor Parker [6507], has been traced.

When the portrait was finally completed, Mr Bridgeman wrote his appreciation to de László: “I do think it was extremely kind of you to start the whole setting again when the first position didn’t please you and I was enchanted with the result I saw yesterday. It is difficult to imagine a combination of three more difficult subjects especially the two lesser ones but the picture will be an everlasting joy to all beholders”.^[8] According to his daughter Marigold, Paul Bridgeman often teased his wife by saying that he had commissioned the present painting in order to have a portrait of Jill, his Airedale.

Alice Dorothy Kleinwort was born on 27 April 1896 at 45 Belgrave Square, London, the fifth of the seven daughters of Herman Greverus Kleinwort, the founder of the bank Kleinwort, Sons & Co, and his wife Marguerite Marie Jeanne Günther, the daughter of the Antwerp banker Otto Günther. Educated at home by German, French, or occasionally English governesses, her happy family life was divided between London and their country home, Wierton Place, near Maidstone. She later spent two years at Northlands’ School in Surrey, where she was taught by the influential Miss Weisse, also painted by de László in 1912 [2097], who had a brilliant ability in communicating her love of music to all her pupils. On 11 May 1922, Alice married Commander Francis ‘Paul’ Orlando Bridgeman, the son of the Honourable Francis Bridgeman and nephew of the 4th Earl of Bradford. There were three children of the marriage, Jeannine (born 1923) Marigold (born 1925), and Gerald (born 1929). In 1930, her husband tragically died after a tree-felling accident. From then on, her life was centered on bringing up the children, and for the last thirty-five years of her life, in making of her home, Dowdeswell Manor in Gloucestershire, into a centre for her family’s activities, for multi-ethnic ventures for African students and Christian groups. A friend to many, she was sought after for her wise counsel, and much loved for her mischievous sense of humour.  She died on 22 January 1979 at Dowdeswell.

Her daughter Jeannine, born on 5 June 1923 at 17 Egerton Gardens, London S.W., was also educated at home by a governess. She was very close to her father, who took her everywhere with him. He taught her carpentry, fishing, gymnastics and many other activities, until his untimely death when she was only seven robbed her of his companionship. In 1939 she should have gone to France and Italy to continue her education, but the Second World War broke out and instead she stayed in England, where she became an occupational therapist in the Wingfield Hospital at Oxford, treating the severely wounded. On 5 May 1951, she married Alan Forde Scott. The marriage failed, but a love of Africa was instilled in her in those three years. She divorced in 1954, and the rest of her life was dedicated to breaking down racial barriers. She assisted Colonel David Stirling in the Capricorn Society in the early 1950s, bringing white, black and brown people together. Her work in founding multi-racial hostels for African students began then and she later founded the Zebra Trust, through which she tirelessly raised money for African aid. The Queen awarded her the M.B.E. for her steadfast work over the years. She remarried on 18 October 1969, to Admiral Jozef Czezlaw Bartosik, C.B. D.S.C.. There were no children of either of the marriages. She died on 1 April 2007 in Gloucestershire and her husband died the following year, in January 2008.

PROVENANCE:

By descent in the family;

Sold at auction at Christie’s, 15 November 2007, lot 16

EXHIBITED:

•The French Gallery, London, A Series of Portraits and Studies by Philip A. de László, M.V.O., May-June, 1929, no. 17

LITERATURE:          

•The Bazaar, vol. CXXI, no. 22, Saturday 1 June 1929, front cover, ill.

•DLA057-0093, letter from Paul Bridgeman to de László, 20 May 1927

•DLA057-0100, letter from de László to Paul Bridgeman, 17 June 1927

•DLA057-0097, letter from Paul Bridgeman to de László, 23 October 1927

•DLA057-0101, letter from de László’s secretary to Paul Bridgeman, 3 January 1928

•DLA057-0078, letter from de László to Mrs Bridgeman, 6 February 1928

•DLA057-0087, letter from Paul Bridgeman to de László, 9 August 1928

•DLA057-0079, letter from Paul Bridgeman to de László, 7 September 1928

•László, Philip de, June-November 1935 diary, private collection, 4 October 1935 entry, p. 123

CC 2008