A Woman Painter of Great Men, The International Studio, Volume 51

It Happened on
January 14, 1914

A WOMAN PAINTER OF GREAT MEN
By George Leland Hunter

Eminent among painters of portraits of the world’s great men is the Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy, Hungarian by birth, cosmopolitan by residence, and now domiciled in New York. Among Americans who have sat to her are Joseph H. Choate, Horace Porter, Whitelaw Reid, Andrew Carnegie, Benjamin F. Tracy, Chauncey Depew, James B. Haggin, Alton B. Parker, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Ogden Mills, Edwin Markham, George Dewey, August Belmont, Myron T. Herrick, William H. Bliss, Henry Phipps.

Among Europeans she has painted are the German Emperor (six times), the German Crown Prince, Bismarck (three times), the King of Saxony, the King of Wurtemburg, the King of Servia, the Grand Duke of Baden, the Prince of Monaco, Prince Ernst Ghika of Roumania, Prince Asghar Ali of Persia, Count von Caprivi, General von Arnim, Kuno Fischer, the German philosopher, Count von Taaffe of Austria, Count von Schoenborn, of Austria, German Minister of Finance von Miquel, Count Eulenburg, Master of Ceremony and Oberhofmarshal to the Emperor of Germany; Count Cassini, of Russia; Archbishop von Stablewsky, of Poland; the Marchese di Blanchi, of Italy; the Austrian poet, Bauernfeld; the German poet, Ernst von Wildenbruch; Baron von Stumm, the poet and playwright; Hermann Sudermann; President Koch, of the Berlin Reichsbank; President von Hahn, of the Vienna Laenderbank; President Loesner, of the Hamburg-American Line.

For her portraits of the German Kaiser, the Princess received the Great Gold State Medal of Germany, and was appointed a member of the jury, the only woman ever so honoured. For her portrait of the King of Wurtemburg she received the Great Gold Medal of Art and Science. Her portrait of General Field-Marshal Count von Moltke was bought by the German Kaiser for the Great General Staff in Berlin, and a second portrait of him was presented by the Great General Staff to General Field-Marshal Count von Waldersee. For her portrait of the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador at Berlin, His Excellency von Szögyenyi-Marich, she was made an officer of the French Academy. Among museums in which hang portraits painted by her are those of Dresden, Leipzig, Heidelberg, Hanover, Vienna, Budapest, and the New York Museum of Natural History.
The Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy not only paints portraits of men; she also paints portraits like a man. I mean that one is not obliged to make concessions to her because she is a woman. Indeed, there is nothing feminine about her work. It is, first of all, strong, which of course is a very desirable characteristic in painting strong men.

Painting portraits has always seemed to me much like taming wild animals. The portraitist must interest, develop and, for the time being, dominate the sitter, in order to grasp what is fundamental in him. Only by putting the subject through his paces can his qualities of mind and soul be apprehended.
This the Princess does to perfection. She is accustomed to have her own way, and also accustomed to have it with the consent of others. She would never have become the pupil—the only one—of the great German painter, Lenbach, if she had not possessed the power of imposing her will upon strong men.
She was only a young girl when she arrived in Munich from Budapest, and presented herself at Lenbach’s studio, with the request that he take her as pupil.

He was kind but brusque, and smiled pityingly.
“What, child! You want to be my pupil?”
“Yes, master. It is my only dream. You are for me the greatest artist in the world.”
“But don’t you know that I have never had any pupils and that I do not wish any. What can you do to justify yourself in making such a request?”
“Master, try me.”
“Very well,” he said. “Here is a portrait I have just finished. Copy it and return it to me with the copy.”
“I copied it,” says the Princess, “with enthusiasm. I applied myself to the most exact reproduction of the smallest details. When I brought it to Lenbach with the original he regarded the two canvases attentively.”
“Which is your copy?” he asked.
“This one, Herr Lenbach, of course.”
The great painter grunted gruffly and was silent. The Princess was afraid; she thought he was offended.
“You did that?” went on Lenbach.
“Yes, Herr Lenbach. I did my best.”
“A child like you. Well, from now on you are my pupil. You must never have any other master but me, nor I any other pupil but you.”
“I promise,” said the Princess.
Of the portraits by the Princess with which I am personally acquainted, those of Joseph H. Choate and James B. Haggin impress me most. The former shows Mr. Choate, who was one of the Museum founders and is the only one of them still living, seated in his Oxford gown—the gown that he wore when he received the degree of Doctor of Civil Law from Oxford University in 1902, during the fourth year of his ambassadorship to the Court of St. James. Notable is the success of the Princess in expressing not only Mr. Choate’s wonderful smile, but also his spirit of perpetual youth. Through the dignity of years and great achievement the boy still twinkles.

As in many others of the Princess’s portraits, so in that of Mr. Haggin, are the hands strangely interpretative of character. They lead the attention powerfully to a face that has lived much. And the face itself is an unusual study in likeness. It is vastly more the man than the man is himself.
The Princess works rapidly. Sketches like that of Mr. Tracy, illustrated on another page, she completes in one or two hours. For most of her paintings four or five sittings suffice. Seldom does she require fourteen sittings, as for the Museum portrait of Mr. Choate. Usually she is able to get into the intimacy of the subject quickly, and with broad strokes to make striking preliminary sketches that foreshadow the completed work—like the sketches of Tesla and Herrick and Edison.

Of the American portraits, those of Andrew Carnegie and Edwin Markham also appeal to one as full of sincerity and directness. Even if we did not know the men portrayed, we should feel acquainted with them. And I am sure that it is the fidelity of her portraiture that has won for the Princess her European reputation, and the favour of those whom she has painted in Europe, chief among them the German Emperor and his son, the Crown Prince.

In these days when so many women question the greatness of any man, it is reassuring to find at least one woman who not only admits that many men are great, but with passionate enthusiasm fastens their various greatnesses in permanent form for future ages to study and admire.

Captions as printed

AUGUST BELMONT, ESQ.
By Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy
BENJAMIN F. TRACY, ESQ.
By Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy
ANDREW CARNEGIE
By Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy