László, Portrait of Franz Joseph I
in hussar field marshal's uniform, 1899
Hungarian National Museum
Philip de Laszlo: His Life and Art is a 2010 biography by Duff Hart-Davis, based on the artist’s papers, letters, press cuttings and diaries. Hart-Davis was qualified to do the writing; he was related to King George III and to 2 of my favourite historians Duff Cooper and son John Julius Norwich. The author’s connections to royal, aristocratic and literary circles were clear, even in art history. The 145 plates in his book were fine examples of de Laszlo’s portraits.
Fulop Laub (1869-1937) was born in Budapest to a Jewish tailor. Due to hard work and talent, he joined Hungary’s National Academy of Arts, then studied in Munich and Paris. Once he'd converted to Catholicism in 1894 and Hungarianised his name to Philip de Laszlo, royal commissions arrived eg Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, Pope Leo XIII, Kaiser Wilhelm II, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. And Presidents Theodore Roosevelt & Calvin Coolidge. His career matched the final peak of Europe’s last great royal courts!
Archbishop of Canterbury, 1937
He was respected, and elected president of Royal Society of British Artists in 1930. See the portraits, catalogue and exhibitions in the de Laszlo Archive. And read Giles MacDonogh, To Frame a Painter | History Today, Feb 2021.
Fulop Laub (1869-1937) was born in Budapest to a Jewish tailor. Due to hard work and talent, he joined Hungary’s National Academy of Arts, then studied in Munich and Paris. Once he'd converted to Catholicism in 1894 and Hungarianised his name to Philip de Laszlo, royal commissions arrived eg Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, Pope Leo XIII, Kaiser Wilhelm II, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. And Presidents Theodore Roosevelt & Calvin Coolidge. His career matched the final peak of Europe’s last great royal courts!
Crown Princess Cecilie of Germany, 1908
Prussian Palaces and Gardens, Berlin
Wiki
In 1892 he met Lucy Guinness, from the wealthy Irish Protestant banking family. They married in 1900, built a refined house in Pest, had 6 children, raised into the Hungarian nobility by Emperor Franz Josef, converted to Anglicanism and moved to Vienna.
Eventually he needed a bigger stage: Britain. From 1907 on, when he was based in London and joined the Royal Society of British Artists, de Laszlo’s career boomed. But the timing was problematic. As war with Germany and ally Austro-Hungary approached, de László needed to become a British subject to protect his sons from conscription into Hungary’s army. Citizenship came in 1914!
In Berlin, outbreak of hostilities in Aug 1914 saw wild demonstrations against foreigners. And in return, spy fever generated by WW1 placed many immigrants in Britain under suspicion. In May 1915 a German U-boat sank the Lusitania off Ireland’s SW coast, killing 1200 passengers and crew. The Times demanded internment of Britain’s c9,000 naturalised aliens, children excluded from schools and property taken. Thankfully P.M Asquith protected naturalised Britons.
de László was concerned for his family in Budapest, who depended on him for financial support. The Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs in London suggested he use the Dutch diplomatic bag because all ordinary post to Holland was censored. Although neutral, the Dutch were considered pro-German and closely monitored.
MI5 knew who was going in and out of de László’s studio, and they intercepted his mail. The case against him became more serious in July 1917 when a report, attributed to de László, revealed British maritime losses and mine production; that the king wanted the war to end; and that Alsace-Lorraine wasn’t worth fighting for. It suggested that de László was desperate to have his Hungarian nationality restored! Above all, they found, de László was a converted Jew with a wide social circle that included an entrée to British and German courts.
de László was grilled by Basil Thomson (Special Branch) and Vernon Kell (MI5) in Aug 1917. If MI5 couldn’t intern de László for pacifism, they might convince people that he’d abused the diplomatic bag, creating secret contacts with the enemy. So they sent de László to Brixton Prison in Sept 1917, until a nervous breakdown saw him freed.
The attitude to aliens in Britain worsened. In July 1918, Evening News called it "Enemy Alien Week"; a rally was held in Trafalgar Square; vigilante groups hunted for German spies. And negative attitudes to naturalised Britons didn’t alter with war’s end in Nov 1918. A newspaper editorial demanded to know what MI5 had unearthed on de László. & the case was debated in the House of Lords, May 1919! Nonetheless the case against the artist was still brought before the Denaturalisation Committee. His 5-day hearing took place in June 1919. The prosecution included Attorney General Sir Gordon Hewart while De László’s defence team included ex-Home Secretary, Sir John Simon. The 3-man committee took merely 15 minutes to dismiss the case.
Eventually he needed a bigger stage: Britain. From 1907 on, when he was based in London and joined the Royal Society of British Artists, de Laszlo’s career boomed. But the timing was problematic. As war with Germany and ally Austro-Hungary approached, de László needed to become a British subject to protect his sons from conscription into Hungary’s army. Citizenship came in 1914!
In Berlin, outbreak of hostilities in Aug 1914 saw wild demonstrations against foreigners. And in return, spy fever generated by WW1 placed many immigrants in Britain under suspicion. In May 1915 a German U-boat sank the Lusitania off Ireland’s SW coast, killing 1200 passengers and crew. The Times demanded internment of Britain’s c9,000 naturalised aliens, children excluded from schools and property taken. Thankfully P.M Asquith protected naturalised Britons.
de László was concerned for his family in Budapest, who depended on him for financial support. The Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs in London suggested he use the Dutch diplomatic bag because all ordinary post to Holland was censored. Although neutral, the Dutch were considered pro-German and closely monitored.
MI5 knew who was going in and out of de László’s studio, and they intercepted his mail. The case against him became more serious in July 1917 when a report, attributed to de László, revealed British maritime losses and mine production; that the king wanted the war to end; and that Alsace-Lorraine wasn’t worth fighting for. It suggested that de László was desperate to have his Hungarian nationality restored! Above all, they found, de László was a converted Jew with a wide social circle that included an entrée to British and German courts.
de László was grilled by Basil Thomson (Special Branch) and Vernon Kell (MI5) in Aug 1917. If MI5 couldn’t intern de László for pacifism, they might convince people that he’d abused the diplomatic bag, creating secret contacts with the enemy. So they sent de László to Brixton Prison in Sept 1917, until a nervous breakdown saw him freed.
The attitude to aliens in Britain worsened. In July 1918, Evening News called it "Enemy Alien Week"; a rally was held in Trafalgar Square; vigilante groups hunted for German spies. And negative attitudes to naturalised Britons didn’t alter with war’s end in Nov 1918. A newspaper editorial demanded to know what MI5 had unearthed on de László. & the case was debated in the House of Lords, May 1919! Nonetheless the case against the artist was still brought before the Denaturalisation Committee. His 5-day hearing took place in June 1919. The prosecution included Attorney General Sir Gordon Hewart while De László’s defence team included ex-Home Secretary, Sir John Simon. The 3-man committee took merely 15 minutes to dismiss the case.
Princess Beatrice, 1926
Wiki
King Umberto II of Italy, 1928
Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother), 1925
Unbelievably Philip’s career was not destroyed. In the 1920s-30s, this international, multi-lingual man was invited all over Europe and North America to paint the portraits of important royals, nobles and church leaders. Consider a few examples: Lord Richard Percy and Lady Diana Percy (1922, 1924); Queen Marie of Romania (1924); Princess Helen of Greece and Denmark (1925); Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Lady Edwina Mountbatten (1925); U.S President Calvin Coolidge (1926); Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury (1926); King Alfonso XIII of Spain (1927); Prince Louis II and Princess Charlotte of Monaco (1928); George Bell Bishop of Chichester (1931); Andrew Mellon (1931); and Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury (1932).
He was respected, and elected president of Royal Society of British Artists in 1930. See the portraits, catalogue and exhibitions in the de Laszlo Archive. And read Giles MacDonogh, To Frame a Painter | History Today, Feb 2021.
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