Philip de László: Pre- Age 40 Portraits

Philip de László (1869-1937) was one of England's most prominent portrait painters during the first third of the 20th century.  Some considered him the successor to John Singer Sargent, and I used that thought as the "hook" for this post about him.  László's Wikipedia entry is here.

Today's post presents some of the portraits he made before he was 40 years old, so his skills were fairly mature but perhaps not fully formed.  Pre-1899 works were not evident in a Google search, though I surely must have missed some.  Those paintings were made when he lived in Budapest.

The portraits below are arranged in approximately chronological order.

Gallery

Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary - 1898She was killed in September of that year, so it is possible that this portrait is posthumous.  That said, its sketchy quality suggests that she might have sat for him.

Kaiser Franz-Joseph of Austria-Hungary - 1899

Adele van Loon - 1901

Pope Leo XIII - 1900
This might have been a study for a larger, more formal painting.

Jan Kubelik - 1903

Princess Max Egon von Hohenlohe-Langenburg, née María de la Piedad de Yturbe - 1906
But this time, László's style is beginning to approach maturity.

Princess Victoria Alexandra Olga Mary of Wales - 1907
Signed, but not "finished."

Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark, née Princess Alice of Battenberg - 1907

Condesa Meyendorff - 1908

Kaiser Wilhelm II - c. 1908
Again, more a study than a completed work.  I'm assuming the Kaiser sat for this.