6884

Luz Mila Patiño Rodríguez 1931

Seated three-quarter length to the right on an upholstered armchair, looking full face to the viewer, wearing a long black skirt and a cream silk jacket with a ruffled collar and cuffs and a pale green jade necklace, her left hand resting on the arm of the chair, her right hand on her hip, a cream fringed shawl over her right arm, against a pale brown background, a curtain to the left

Oil on canvas, 128 x 96 cm (50 ¼ x 37 ¾ in.)

Inscribed lower left:  de László / Paris. 1931. II  

Sitters’ Book II, opp. f. 54: Luz Mila Patiño

Private Collection

The present portrait was commissioned by the sitter's parents, Don Simón Iturri Patiño [6872] and his wife Doña Albina Rodríguez [6876]. It was one of four portraits painted in 1931 at the home of Luz Mila’s sister, Graziella de Ortiz Linares, at no. 34 Avenue Foch, where de László used her drawing room as a makeshift studio, see [6872].

The artist’s correspondence suggests that a study portrait, rather than a three-quarter length picture, was originally commissioned by the Patiños, given the comment de László made on the size of the frame he recommended for the present portrait: “As I prefer to paint in the frame, I would be happy if you could buy a small frame for your portrait of the same size as that of the portrait of Mrs Patiño, and for the portrait of Miss Patiño a small frame like the one for the sketch of the Marquesa del Mérito [6883],”^[1] a head-and-shoulders study-portrait painted in 1930.

As well as giving instructions for the frame, de László also had requirements as to what Luz Mila should wear for her portrait. To her enquiry^[2] the artist replied in very specific terms: “You will find enclosed a sketch for your dress. The blouse has to be made of ivory satin and the skirt of black velvet, the frills on the collar and cuffs of the blouse must be of a width of 50.8 mm (2 inches).”^[3] The final portrait shows that there was no protest on Luz Mila’s part, despite the fact that she evidently had no say in that choice.

De László’s diary indicates that he started her portrait on 6 February, when he painted her all day.^[4] The following day she sat to him again in the morning and in the afternoon, and he expressed the challenge of painting her: “ During the whole day painted little Patino girl  - she is a difficult subject – but interesting with her Incas – Eastern eyes – In profil[e] she looks like the old Inkas wood carved heads – with a very high bridged nose – short forred [i.e. ‘forehead’] – The pic. will be nice in callour [i.e. ‘colour’]”^[5]. Two days later, in the morning, he focused on her head, and again in the afternoon of 10 February, when he eventually finished it. He resumed painting her in the morning of 12 February,^[6] and the following day he recorded: “painted well on Miss Patiño.”^[7] Another sitting took place the following morning, and again on 15 February, when he painted her only for an hour in the afternoon, during which he probably put the finishing touches to the work, since no further sittings were mentioned in the diary. Since for de László, a sitting meant half a day of work, in all, more than nine sittings^[8] were required for the present portrait. This shows the difficulty he had portraying her, as, for a three-quarter length portrait, he usually allowed eight sittings to make sure he would have enough time to complete the picture.

Luz Mila Patiño, the youngest daughter of Simón Iturri Patiño and his wife Albina Rodríguez, was born on 2 March 1909 in Oruro, Bolivia. The family moved to Paris when their father, a successful industrialist and tin magnate, was appointed the Bolivian Minister there. From 1922 to 1926 they lived in Madrid where he also served as Bolivian Minister. On 23 June 1938, in Paris, Luz Mila married Guy Jacquelot du Boisrouvray (1903-1980), styled comte du Boisrouvray, son of Amaury de Jacquelot du Boisrouvray and Joséphine de Polignac, a businessman and first cousin of Prince Rainier III of Monaco. They had one daughter, Albina (born 1941), who was named after her maternal grandmother.

Luz Mila and her husband were connoisseurs of art, and jewellery. They notably built a considerable collection of medieval illuminated manuscripts which, after the sitter’s death, Guy de Boisrouvray gifted to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in her memory. In 1951, he also established an annual musical competition in her honour to foster classical Bolivian music.^[9] 

Luz Mila Patiño, comtesse du Boisrouvray, died in New York City at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on 6 November 1958, aged fifty-five.

PROVENANCE

By descent in the family

LITERATURE

•László, Philip de, 1931 diary, private collection, 1 February entry, p. 35

•Vecko Journalen,^[10] April 1933, p. 17, ill.
•Hart-Davis, Duff, in collaboration with Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, De László: His Life and Art, Yale University Press, 2010, p. 222

•DLA081-0173, letter from de László to Simón Patiño, 23 December 1930

•DLA081-0170, letter from Luz Mila Patiño, 12 January 1931

With our grateful thanks to Timothy F. Boettger for his help with biographical details

CC

SMdeL  2011