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Lot Essay
The present portrait is one of several that the artist painted of Princess Beatrice and her immediate family, over an extended period. De László probably first met Princess Beatrice when he was painting members of the Spanish Royal Family in Madrid in 1910. On 2 July 1926 Princess Beatrice attended a reception at de László's home to view the artist's recently completed portrait of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Davidson (The Times, 3 July 1926, p. 17). The following week he finished his fourth portrait of Queen Ena of Spain, Princess Beatrice's daughter. On 12 August he and his wife Lucy went to stay with Princess Beatrice at Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, apparently for a holiday, but while there de László began a head study of Princess Beatrice, a small portrait showing the sitter full face. However, this was unfinished and remained in the artist's possession until his death. The present study, approximately the same size as the abandoned study, shows the sitter wearing the same choker as in the first version, but in full profile, which is unusual in de László's oeuvre. A recent biographer of Princess Beatrice writes of the present portrait: "[it] is a handsome image showing her in profile, her face thinner with age; not crushed by the years but wise and kindly, staring into the distance, as always in Beatrice's case avoiding contact with the viewer" (M. Dennison, loc. cit.).
Princess Beatrice was born at Buckingham Palace on 14 April 1857, the youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. After the death of the Prince Consort in 1861, Princess Beatrice (or 'Baby' as she was always known by the Queen) remained her mother's constant companion providing her with solace in her grief. A vivacious child, she learnt languages well, was a competent artist and became an excellent pianist, and following the marriage of the Queen's niece Victoria of Hesse to Prince Louis of Battenberg in 1884, Princess Beatrice announced her intention of marrying his younger brother Henry. The marriage took place at Wippingham Church, near Osborne on the Isle of Wight on 23 July 1885, whereupon Queen Victoria appointed Prince Henry Governor of the Isle of Wight, ostensibly to keep her daughter close to her at Osborne House. In ten years of marriage they had three sons, Alexander, later 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke, (1886-1960), Leopold (1889-1922), and Maurice (1891-1914), and a daughter, Victoria Eugénia, 'Ena' (1887-1969), who married King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1906.
The quiet life of the island, however, bored Prince Henry and in 1895 he volunteered to join the expedition to fight the second Ashanti war during which he contracted a fever and died in January 1896 aged thirty-seven. Fearing her daughter would now leave her, Queen Victoria appointed Princess Beatrice to succeed him as Governor of the island and she continued to be the Queen's companion and unofficial private secretary.
When the Queen died in 1901 she bequeathed to Princess Beatrice her private journal with the instruction that she edit it ruthlessly. This she carried out faithfully for the rest of her life. She had also inherited Osborne Cottage on her mother's death, but in 1912 moved into the Governor's house, Carisbrooke Castle. On 26 October 1944, she died aged eighty-seven at Brantridge Park, Sussex, the home of her niece, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, where she had lived since 1940.
We are grateful to Christopher Wentworth-Stanley for writing the catalogue entry for this portrait, which is included in the Philip de László catalogue raisonné, currently presented in progress online.
The Hon. Mrs de Laszlo and a team of editors are compiling the catalogue raisonné of the artist's entire oeuvre. Katherine Field is the British and Canadian Editor. Please see www.delaszloarchivetrust.com or contact catalogue@delaszlo.com for more information or to offer any contribution.
Princess Beatrice was born at Buckingham Palace on 14 April 1857, the youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. After the death of the Prince Consort in 1861, Princess Beatrice (or 'Baby' as she was always known by the Queen) remained her mother's constant companion providing her with solace in her grief. A vivacious child, she learnt languages well, was a competent artist and became an excellent pianist, and following the marriage of the Queen's niece Victoria of Hesse to Prince Louis of Battenberg in 1884, Princess Beatrice announced her intention of marrying his younger brother Henry. The marriage took place at Wippingham Church, near Osborne on the Isle of Wight on 23 July 1885, whereupon Queen Victoria appointed Prince Henry Governor of the Isle of Wight, ostensibly to keep her daughter close to her at Osborne House. In ten years of marriage they had three sons, Alexander, later 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke, (1886-1960), Leopold (1889-1922), and Maurice (1891-1914), and a daughter, Victoria Eugénia, 'Ena' (1887-1969), who married King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1906.
The quiet life of the island, however, bored Prince Henry and in 1895 he volunteered to join the expedition to fight the second Ashanti war during which he contracted a fever and died in January 1896 aged thirty-seven. Fearing her daughter would now leave her, Queen Victoria appointed Princess Beatrice to succeed him as Governor of the island and she continued to be the Queen's companion and unofficial private secretary.
When the Queen died in 1901 she bequeathed to Princess Beatrice her private journal with the instruction that she edit it ruthlessly. This she carried out faithfully for the rest of her life. She had also inherited Osborne Cottage on her mother's death, but in 1912 moved into the Governor's house, Carisbrooke Castle. On 26 October 1944, she died aged eighty-seven at Brantridge Park, Sussex, the home of her niece, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, where she had lived since 1940.
We are grateful to Christopher Wentworth-Stanley for writing the catalogue entry for this portrait, which is included in the Philip de László catalogue raisonné, currently presented in progress online.
The Hon. Mrs de Laszlo and a team of editors are compiling the catalogue raisonné of the artist's entire oeuvre. Katherine Field is the British and Canadian Editor. Please see www.delaszloarchivetrust.com or contact catalogue@delaszlo.com for more information or to offer any contribution.