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

Portrait of Norman Louis Cappel Esq., half-length; 

oil on canvas, indistinctly signed and dated 'de Laszlo 1933[?]' (lower right), 82.6 x 60.2 cm. 

Provenance: 
Mary, Lady Brighton. 
Anon. sale, Christie's South Kensington, 3 December 2015, lot 23. 
Private Collection, UK. 

Literature: 
Laib L18175 (759) C4 (13): Mr L. Cappel. 
NPG Album. 
Sitters’ Book, II, opp. f. 76: N.L. Cappel Sep. 16th. 1933. 
The de László Archive Trust, 'The Catalogue Raisonné of Works by Philip de László (1869-1937) [online]', no.110512. 

Note: 
Norman Louis Cappel was born in Liverpool in 1887, the eldest son of Louis Cappel and his wife Anna Springmann. He attended Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey. During the First World War he served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves on HMS Roxburg and his service record described him as a 'hard working and competent officer.' On 12 June 1916 he married Jessie Martin Ritchtie, daughter of Alexander Ritchie, J.P. at St George’s Hanover Square in London. There were two children of the marriage: Louis (born 1920) and Norma (born 1922). In 1933 he married secondly, Barbara Gladys Morrison. He died on 25 November 1974 in Poole, Dorset and is buried with his parents in Allerton Cemetery, Liverpool. In this striking portrait, he is shown half-length, slightly to the right, head turned to viewer, wearing a dark suit with white shirt, a blue, red and white striped tie and a pocket-handkerchief in his breast pocket. 

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.110512).