Portrait of a Lady and her Daughter

Philip de László painted this double portrait of a lady and her daughter in 1902, by which time he was already established as one of the most sought-after portrait painters in Central Europe. Born in Budapest, he had trained in Munich and Paris before building an international clientele that would eventually take him to England. The portrait of a mother and daughter — a format that required psychological insight beyond mere likeness — demonstrates his ability to convey the relationship between sitters as well as their individual characters. The Hermitage's acquisition reflects the cosmopolitan circulation of his work across European capitals and courts.

De László's virtuoso handling of fabric and hair — the materials that defined his sitters' social position — is evident throughout. He builds the faces with carefully blended flesh tones, then contrasts these with more freely handled dress fabric and background. The spatial relationship between mother and daughter is managed with assured compositional authority.