DLA019-0133 Transcription
LONDON,
24th July, 1931.
It grieves me very much to have kept you so long without news, but my life is at present is [sic] taken up with so much work that I do not notice how quickly the days slip by.
I am so glad to hear from different quarters and from your friend who called here the other day for an interview with me, that you are all well. I only wish I could join you on your present holiday; however, I much hope there will be an opportunity of our meeting as my family and I are leaving on August 10th for Southern Bavaria for a three weeks motor tour and shall be staying at Partenkirchen from where we shall make various excursions, so do let me know to this address where a letter will find you as there may be a chance of our arranging a meeting. It is nearly four years since we last met in Venice; it would seem that our life is as the sunset which, when it once begins goes very quickly.
You may have heard that I recently held a large collective Exhibition of my works in Paris,[1] and I must tell you that it was an exceptionally great success. I enclose some newspaper cuttings relative thereto.
Our family are all well with the exception of Stephen.[2] Last Monday he underwent an operation for appendicitis and the gall bladder, the latter being very serious, so you can imagine what this means to him and to his wife, and also to us all. However, I am glad to say he is progressing as well as can be expected. Patrick[3] has got through at Oxford, and John[4] is at present at Bonn where he is making strides with German; we expect him home at the end of this month.
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I am very busy as usual with my portraits and have not yet started to paint my big picture which I have long had in mind in connection with the War, but I much hope that next year will see me started on my large canvas.[5] At the end of September I have to go to America, and on my return in January most probably I shall begin my big work. Among some of my latest portraits is one of Mr. Lloyd George which is destined for the House of Commons [6072]; he makes a very nice companion, and I spent a very interesting time while painting him.
My family join me in sending you best wishes and kindest regards, and I shall look forward to hear from you and to meeting you somewhere on the Continent next month.
Editorial Note:
Sigmund Münz (1859–1934), Austrian journalist and writer; for biographical notes, see [6377].
SMDL
08/06/2018
[1] Hôtel Jean Charpentier, Paris, Exposition P. A. de László, June 1931
[2] Stephen Philip de Laszlo (1904–1939) [4375], second son of Philip and Lucy de László
[3] Patrick David de Laszlo (1909–1980) [9205], fourth son of Philip and Lucy de László
[4] John Adolphus de Laszlo (1912–1990) [11622], fifth and youngest son of Philip and Lucy de László
[5] De László had planned to paint a picture for his own pleasure on a subject in connection with the First World War. He wished to depict: “not men fighting, but the still nobler part of suffering women at home; women of all classes in a chapel surrounding the burning candles for the fallen souls” (Rutter, pp. 372–373). The painting was never started, although many studies and sketches remained in his studio on his death.