Philip Alexius de László, PRBA, 
Hungarian / British 1869-1937- 
Portrait of Dame Gwen Lucy...

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

Portrait of Dame Gwen Lucy Ffrangcon-Davies as Mary Queen of Scots; 

oil on canvas, signed, dated, and inscribed 'to / Ffrangcon Davies / in friendship / 1934 de László' (lower right), 91.5 x 71 cm. 

Provenance: 
The sitter. 
Anon. sale, Sotheby's, London, 13 May 1992, lot 36. 
Private Collection, UK. 

Literature: 
Laib L18971(275) / C6(28) 'Miss G. Davis'. 
Sitters’ Book II, opp. f. 78: 'Gwen Ffrangcon Davies / Sep 10th 1934'. 
'La Revue de l’art', 41st year, 3rd cycle, tome LXXI, no.378, Paris, 1937, p.316. 
O. Rutter, 'Portrait of a Painter', London, 1939, p.384. 
F. W. Braam, 'World Collectors Annuary', The Hague and Amsterdam, vol. XLII, 1992. 
The de László Archive Trust, 'The Catalogue Raisonné of Works by Philip de László (1869-1937) [online]', no.5067. 

Note: 
This portrait was painted for Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies as a gift. The previous year she had sat for de László [3387] and was photographed as the major part of the illustrations for 'Painting a Portrait by de László', which analysed the artist’s painting technique. The present portrait portrays the sitter in her costume as Mary Queen of Scots in Gordon Daviot’s play Queen of Scots, which was written especially for her. In this she starred opposite the young Laurence Olivier as Bothwell. The artist painted a second smaller portrait of the sitter in the same costume, which remained in his studio until his death [13549]. 

Gwen is shown in an interpretation of 16th-century French mourning dress. Mary Queen of Scots was painted by François Clouet (Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 403429), wearing mourning, after the death of three members of her immediate family within a period of eighteen months: her father-in-law Henri II of France in July 1559, her mother, Mary of Guise in June 1560 and in December that year her husband François II. The play begins as Mary sails from France to Leith in Scotland 19 August 1561 to take up her throne. For biographical notes on the sitter, see [3387]. 

(The de László Archive Trust, 'The Catalogue Raisonné of Works by Philip de László (1869-1937) [online]'). 

Image 4: de Laszlo Archive © de Laszlo Foundation
Image 5: de Laszlo Archive © de Laszlo Foundation