6480

Study portrait 

Adolph Simon Ochs 1930

Half-length, in three-quarter profile to the left, wearing a dark suit and blue tie

Oil on canvas, 106.7 x 73.7 cm (42 x 29 in.)

Inscribed lower right: to my esteemed friend Adolph Ochs. / 1930 10. May LONDON. / de László

Laib L16044(484) / C21(12) Mr. Ochs

NPG Album 1929-31, p. 20

Sitters’ Book II, f. 65: Adolph S. Ochs / May 7, 1930

Private Collection

De László had previously painted a three-quarter length portrait of Mr. Ochs in April 1926 [6487]. He executed the present portrait and that of the sitter’s wife [6486] during the couple’s stay in London while on their European tour, which included taking “the cure” in Carlsbad.^[1] There exists a contemporary photograph of the artist with these two portraits in his studio. A copy of the present portrait was painted by Frank Edwin Larson for the New York Chamber of Commerce in 1935 [6483].

De László wrote of their visit in a letter to Louis Wiley, business manager of The New York Times, “We had Mr. and Mrs. Ochs daily with us for a whole week and enjoyed their company so very much, Mr. Ochs’s sister-in-law and niece were with them. I think you will like Mrs. Ochs’s picture as well as Mr. Ochs’s, and I have just heard from them telling me how satisfied they are with them. I did a portrait study of Mr. Ochs and took the opportunity to offer it to him for the New York Times as I learn that my portrait of him has been removed from there and is now in her [sic] daughter’s possession. I am sure it will interest you to know that Mr. Ochs came with me to the Royal Society of British Artists and kindly purchased three pictures there.” Before the couple left for Carlsbad, and de László himself moved on to Paris, the de Lászlós hosted a reception on their behalf to allow some friends in London to see their portraits. There were 150 guests at their home in Fitzjohn’s Avenue, who were entertained by a performance from the Budapest Choir.^[2]

Both Mr. and Mrs. Ochs were very pleased with their portraits and he wrote to inform de László that, “The pictures arrived in good condition and are greatly admired. The sketch you made of me has provoked much enthusiasm in the office. Mrs. Ochs’ portrait is generally commended as a masterpiece.”^[3]

For biographical notes on the sitter, see [6487].

LITERATURE:

•The New York Times, 15 June 1930

•Tifft, Susan E. and Alex S. Jones, The Trust: The Private and Powerful Family Behind The New York Times, Little, Brown and Co., New York, 1999, p. 149

•DLA019-0008, letter from de László to Louis Wiley, 17 May 1930

•DLA019-0093, letter from de László to Ralph D. Blumenfeld, 19 May 1930

•DLA019-0098, letter from de László to Istvan Barczy, 19 May 1930

•DLA079-0097, letter from the Adolph Ochs to de László, 28 June 1930

•DLA019-0113, letter from de László to Louis Wiley, 15 August 1930

MD 2012