113062

Study portrait

Baron Hugo von Reischach 1899

Bust-length to the left, head turned in three-quarter profile to the right, wearing a moustache, a white uniform with a red and black collar, a white wig and a black bicorne with black and white plumes

Oil on cardboard, 73 x 49.5 cm (28 ¾ x 19 ½ in.)

Inscribed lower right: Sr. Excellenz / Baron v. Reischach / m. Verehrung / László F. E. / 1899 [To his Excellency / Baron v. Reischach / with esteem / László F. E. / 1899]

Sitters’ Book I, f. 28: Hugo Frhr. von Reischach 3 / 8 99

Private Collection

This was not a commissioned portrait but an example of de László’s ability to quickly capture on canvas an impression of a sitter who inspired him artistically. It is one of the earliest examples of his study portraits, a style he became particularly known for. The portrait would have been completed in one sitting of two to three hours and was a gift from the artist to the sitter.

During Christmas and New Year 1898-1899 de László stayed at Schloss Rauden, the Ratibor family home. The sitter’s wife Margarethe, was the sister of Prince Max Ratibor, the German Consul-General in Budapest, whom the artist had first met and painted there in 1897. This portrait was painted either in Rauden or in Berlin, where de László went in March 1899 to paint his celebrated portrait of the German Chancellor, Prince Chlodwig Hohenlohe, Margarethe von Reischach’s uncle.

Baron Hugo von Reischach was commissioned into the elite Prussian Garde du Corps in December 1875. His gregarious nature, social skills, dancing, accomplished horsemanship and general appearance made him ideally suited for ceremonial duties at Court in Berlin, where he was noticed by the Imperial Family. In 1885 he was appointed to the Oberhofmarschallamt, the office of the High Marshal of the Court, responsible for protocol, festivities and imperial engagements. In the present portrait he wears the uniform of Hofmarshall to the dowager Empress Friedrich, whom he served in this capacity from 1888 until her death on 5 August 1901. Her mother, Queen Victoria, died on 22 January the same year. After a short retirement he returned to court duties in 1905 when Wilhelm II appointed him Oberstallmeister, Master of the Horse, with responsibility for the vast stables and studs, carriages and an ever-increasing number of motor cars. Reischach was recognised internationally for the excellence of his work and was greatly respected by the Emperor.

PROVENANCE:

Inventory of Schloss Nussdorf der Herren von Reischach, Eberdingen, Germany;

Offered at auction at K&K Auktionen in Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany, 2 March 2018, lot 43

EXHIBITED:

•BADA Art & Antiques Fair, London, Philip de László: 150th Anniversary Exhibition, 2019, no. 2

•Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest, Philip de László “I am an artist of the world…”, 2019, no. 2

•Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury, Philip de László: Master of Elegance, 2024, no. 2

LITERATURE:

•Field, Katherine, with essays by Sandra de Laszlo and Richard Ormond, Philip de László: Master of Elegance,

Blackmore, 2024, p.42, ill. p. 43

KF 2021