Image: De László, ‘Arthur Balfour’
Credit: The Print Collector / Alamy Stock Photo
De László’s portraits of society still matter
The Hungarian-born Jewish painter Philip de László was fêted by pre-war social elites, but his flourishing career foundered upon an enduring antisemitism.
Full article on Engelsberg Ideas website
On 8 March 2024, a portrait of Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, housed at Trinity College, Cambridge, was defaced by an activist from Palestine Action, a pro-Palestine protest network. Balfour, a former British prime minister and chancellor of the Cambridge University, is primarily remembered as the namesake of the Balfour Declaration, which he signed in November 1917 as foreign secretary in the Lloyd George Cabinet. The declaration, a public statement expressing official British support for Zionism, is considered a first step towards the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine.
I don’t want to delve into Balfour’s political career or comment on the events of 8 March. Rather, I want to explore the life and work of the author of the damaged canvas: Philip de László. A truly cosmopolitan artist, De László was a Hungarian Jew who worked extensively throughout Europe and America, becoming a favourite among social elites, winning commissions from all manner of luminaries from Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, the queen of Spain, to Lady Curzon, the wife of the viceroy to India. His list of subjects includes major political and religious figures of the day, such as Pope Leo XIII, Theodore Roosevelt, and Benito Mussolini, to name just a few.
12 March 2024
By Guido G. Beduschi
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