Philip Alexius de László, PRBA, 
Hungarian / British 1869-1937- 

Portrait of Lajos Behr; 

oil on board, signed 'P.A. Laszlo' (lower right), inscribed and indistinctly dated 'In Freundschaft / 19[?]' (lower right), 98 x 70 cm. 

Provenance: 
Anon. sale, Auctionata, Berlin, 23 September 2015, lot 85. 
Private Collection, Spain. 

Exhibited: 
Nemzeti Szalon (National Salon), Budapest, 'Exhibition of Works by László Fülöp', April 1907, no.56 (erroneously named in the catalogue as Beer Lajos). 

Literature: 
Sitters’ Book I, f. 66: Ludwig Behr ⅙ 1904. 
DLA 033-0097, letter from Lajos Behr to de László, 25 April 1904. 
DLA 034-0053, letter from Lajos Behr to de László, 19 September 1907. 
DLA 033-0019, letter from Lajos Behr to de László, no date (probably 1907). 
National Széchényi Library, Budapest, letter from de László to Ernst, 21 March 1907. 
The de László Archive Trust, 'The Catalogue Raisonné of Works by Philip de László (1869-1937) [online]', no.111405. 

Note: 
The inscribed date on this picture is indistinct, however, it must have been painted between 1904, when Behr wrote to de László that he would come to Vienna, and 1906 as stated in the catalogue of the April 1907 Nemzeti Salon. Behr also signed the artist’s Sitters’ Book in 1904 suggesting the portrait was started then. 

Behr wrote to de László to congratulate him on his success and commented on his portrait: 'my picture looks wonderful in the Nemzeti Szalon – it has been hung very favourably.' The exhibition was an important solo exhibition of sixty-three paintings spanning the artist’s career and celebrated his reputation in Europe before his move to London that summer. 

Ludwig Behr was born on 16 August 1863 into a family traditionally of farmers and winemakers in Heidingsfeld, Bavaria. His father, however, was a painter who also worked as a gilder and restorer. His early years were spent in Würzburg before studying at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich. Thereafter he worked on refurbishing castles in Austria-Hungary, Italy and England. Around 1895 he moved to Budapest where he pursued a lucrative career as an architect and interior decorator, specialising in castles and town palaces. Among his highest profile works were the interiors of the Parliament buildings. 

Behr was a notable collector of Old Masters, sculptures and 'objets d'art'. At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 he returned to Bavaria where he established himself as an Impressionist painter at Tutzing on Lake Starnberg. He died in Tutzing on 18 January 1945. He is here shown half-length turned slightly to the left and looking full face to the viewer, wearing a dark brown three piece suit and black tie. 

We are grateful to Katherine Field for writing the catalogue entry for this portrait, which will be included in the Philip de László catalogue raisonné, currently presented in progress online: www.delaszlocatalogueraisonne.com (no.111405).