Portrait of Viscountess Gwladys Chaplin

Description of the artwork

Painted in June 1915, at a moment when Europe was engulfed in the turmoil of war, our portrait of Gwladys, Viscountess Chaplin by Philip de László presents a suspended image of aristocratic elegance seemingly untouched by the surrounding upheaval. The young woman is depicted half-length, turned three-quarters toward the viewer, her face gently inclined while her neck and shoulders emerge delicately from a diaphanous veil shimmering with golden reflections.

Handled with both virtuosity and economy of means, the artist’s pictorial technique—supple and vibrant—imbues the composition with an almost immaterial grace. Broadly brushed amber-brown backgrounds envelop the figure in a warm, subdued atmosphere, from which the luminous flesh tones stand out with striking clarity. Beneath the free, animated brushwork that enlivens the auburn strands of her reddish hair, the sitter’s pale eyes, though gazing into the distance, remain intensely present as they catch the light. To this spontaneity of gesture corresponds the refined precision of certain details: the sparkling earring and the jade-green bracelet that introduces a striking note of colour into the composition. The string of pearls, half-concealed in her right hand, forms a subtle narrative element.

According to family tradition, the necklace had been lent by the artist but displeased the sitter; together they agreed upon this delicate compromise. Finally, through the translucent veil, rendered with broad, feathered brushstrokes, László partially dissolves form into light, reminding us how—while heir to the grand tradition of state portraiture—he was equally attuned to modern sensibilities. Gwladys Chaplin is here immortalised by the painter at the height of her youthful elegance and social prominence. She was the daughter of Charles Henry Wilson, 1st Baron Nunburnholme, and his wife Florence Jane Helen Wellesley, and in 1905 she married Eric Chaplin (1877–1947), son of Henry, 1st Viscount Chaplin, and Lady Florence Leveson-Gower. She was introduced to László through her sister-in-law Edith, Viscountess Castlereagh—later Marchioness of Londonderry—an enthusiastic patron of the artist (fig. 1). In an enthusiastic letter dated November 1914, Lady Castlereagh encouraged László to paint “this charming creature,” expressing the hope that “it may be possible for her [Gwladys] to appear in your exhibition.”¹ The sitting indeed took place on 3 June 1915, according to the artist’s notebook. Although the portrait was not exhibited until 1924—nearly ten years after its creation—it was accorded a place of honour, alongside that of her sister-in-law, at de László’s prestigious one-man exhibition at the Galerie Française in Pall Mall.

The viscountess’s pose, both modest and assured, offers a perfect synthesis of social distinction and psychological inwardness—one of the hallmarks of the painter’s portraiture.
The proud carriage of her head, the elegant line of her profile, and the subtle balance between reserve and allure together create an image that may be partly idealised, yet never rigid. László does not merely flatter a physiognomy; he captures a temperament, a presence. For Robert de Montesquiou, himself portrayed by the artist in 1905, this quality often stemmed from the close rapport the painter established with his sitters during the sittings themselves:

“He receives, through his chivalrous character, his frankness, his upright loyalty, and his sympathetic simplicity, he receives, I say, possesses and preserves the cherished and moving memory of those who have posed for him—from Popes to goddesses, from kings to muses, from scholars to poets, from warriors to children.”²

¹ Letter from Viscountess Castlereagh to László, dated 25 November 1914 (De László Archive 061-0070).

² Robert de Montesquiou, “Un portraitiste lyrique : Philipp László,” L’Art et les artistes, June 1906, p. 102.

Origin

Gwladys, Viscountess Chaplin (1881–1971)
Descended from the model
Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, 7 June 2007, lot 68
Richard Green, London
Private collection, acquired from the previous owner on 14 May 2014

Literature

De László Archive 061-0070, Letter from Viscountess Castlereagh, 25 November 1914; National Portrait Gallery Album, 1913–1915, p. 92; Sitters' Book I, f. 104: ‘Gwladys Chaplin 3 June 1915’.
Hart-Davis, Duff, Corbeau-Parsons, Caroline, De László: His Life and Art, Yale University Press, 2010, p. 135.
Morris, Susan, and Boyd, Rachel, British and European Portraiture 1600-1930 (Exhibition Catalogue), Richard Green, London, 2013, pp. 114-117, reproduced on pp. 115 and 117 (detail).
Morris, Susan, and Hall, Rachel Boyd, A Flair for Fashion: Society Portraits 1888-1944 (Exhibition Catalogue), Richard Green, London, 2017, reproduced on p. 2.