111601

Portrait drawing

Fürstin Leopold von Hohenzollern, née Princess Antonia de Braganza 1907

Head and shoulders, in three-quarter profile to the left, wearing a high-necked blouse or dress, a peaked headdress, and earrings

Charcoal and graphite on grey paper, 50.8 x 35.5 cm (20 x 14 in.)

Indistinctly inscribed upper left: Antonia./ Princessis Leopoldi/ de Hohenzollern ux ur./ Infantisa de Portugallia [in the artist’s hand]

Inscribed upper right: P.A. László/ Sigmaringen/1907/VI

Verso inscribed: 53 [ink]

Sitters’ Book I, f. 77: Antoinette / Fürstin von Hohenzollern / Infantin von Portugal / Sigmaringen, Juni . 07.

Studio Inventory, p. 146 (53): Prinzessin Luitpold von Hohenzollern

Private Collection

This drawing was executed in June 1907, during sittings for Fürstin Antonia von Hohenzollern’s three-quarter length portrait in oil [4461]. The pose differs slightly from the formal portrait and shows the sitter still in mourning, subsequent to the death of her husband in 1905. The present picture was intended as a souvenir for the artist himself, and remained in his possession until his death. This is a reflection of the great affection de László had for this charming and intelligent sitter who was herself an amateur painter. In his memoirs he described the elderly Princess as “calm and dignified, with classic features ... and a wide experience of life.”[1] He considered her formal portrait one of his best works and it seems quite understandable that he wanted to keep a record of his happy time at Sigmaringen castle.

For biographical notes on the sitter, see [4461].

LITERATURE:

•Rutter, Owen, Portrait of a Painter, London, 1939, pp. 242-43

•Hart-Davis, Duff, in collaboration with Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, Philip de László. His Life and Art, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2010, pp. 99-100

AG 2012