Philip de László

László was born in humble circumstances in Budapest as Fülöp Laub, the eldest son of Adolf and Johanna Laub, a tailor and seamstress of Jewish origin.[3] Fülöp and his younger brother Marczi changed their surname to László in 1891.

He was apprenticed at an early age to a photographer while studying art, eventually earning a place at the National Academy of Art, where he studied under Bertalan Székely and Károly Lotz. He followed this with studies in Munich and Paris. László's portrait of Pope Leo XIII earned him a Grand Gold Medal at the Paris International Exhibition in 1900. In 1903, László moved from Budapest to Vienna. In 1907, he moved to England and remained based in London for the remainder of his life, although endlessly travelling the world to fulfill commissions.[4][5]

Mrs Philip de László, née Lucy Guinness, by Philip Alexius de László

In 1900, László married Lucy Madeleine Guinness, a member of the banking branch of the Guinness family and a sister of Henry Guinness. They had first met in Munich in 1892, but for some years had been forbidden to see each other. The couple had six children and 17 grandchildren.[6]

László became interested in Catholicism as a young man, probably through his friendship with the Valentins, an elderly Bavarian couple.[7] He was baptised into the Hungarian Catholic Church in 1894 ... "he never worshipped regularly but read the Bible and was a firm believer in God and the Christian story".[8] His faith was especially strengthened by his visit to the Vatican in 1900, where he met and painted the aging Pope Leo XIII.[9] László converted to Anglicanism upon his marriage, and his children were raised as Protestants.[10] At a lecture to the Fisher Society in 1934, he said "I believe that to worship nature is a religious duty. I see in nature the fullest revelation of the Divinity, and my faith is that only by acceptance of this revelation and by striving to realise it in all its perfection can I prove my worship to be sincere".[11]

László's patrons awarded him numerous honours and medals. In 1909, he was invested MVO by Edward VII. In 1912, he was ennobled by King Franz Joseph of Hungary; his surname then became "László de Lombos", but he soon was using the name "de László".

Despite his British citizenship, his marriage and five British citizen sons, de László was interned for over twelve months in 1917 and 1918 during the First World War, accused of making contact with the enemy (he had written letters to family members in Austria). He was released on grounds of ill health, and exonerated in June 1919.[12]

Due to overwork, de László suffered heart problems for the last years of his life. In October 1937, he had a heart attack and died a month later at his home, Hyme House, in Hampstead, London.[13] His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics.[14]

In 1939, Portrait of a Painter. The Authorized Life of Philip de László by Owen Rutter, written in conjunction with de László, was published. In 2010, Yale University Press published De László, His Life and Art by Duff Hart-Davis and Dr. Caroline Corbeau-Parsons.[15] His reputation still remains largely as a society portrait painter, but well numbered amongst his sitters were industrialists and scientists, politicians and painters, men and women of letters and many other eminent, as well as ordinary, people. Family members and a team of editors are compiling a catalogue raisonné published online and in progress. His oeuvre currently numbers almost 4,000 works, including drawings.[16]

Mrs. George Owen Sandys

Winifred, Duchess of Portland

Mrs. Hélène Kirwan-Taylor (1935)

Mrs. Lydia Eustis, lyrical artist and the wife of the Dutch diplomat John Loudon (1920)

Portraits painted by László include the following individuals:

• Philip de László
• 
  Sir Alfred East, 1907
• 
  Winifred Cavendish-Bentinck (née Dallas-Yorke), 6th Duchess of Portland, 1912
• 
  Lady Louise Mountbatten (later Queen of Sweden), 1907
• 
  Vita Sackville-West, 1910
• 
  Pope Leo XIII
• 
  The German Empress, Queen of Prussia, Augusta Victoria, 1908
• 
  Princess Alice of Battenberg, 1907
• 
  Frank B. Kellogg
• 
  Cecilie, German Crown Princess, 1908
• 
  Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom
• 
  Prince Louis of Battenberg, 1910
• 
  Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother), 1925
• 
  Graf Heinrich Larisch-Moennich
• 
  Princess Elizabeth of York, currently Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, 1933
• 
  Cardinal Mariano Rampolla
• 
  Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma, Princess-consort of Bulgaria
• 
  Portrait of Antoine de Gramont (1879-1962) 12th Duke of Gramont (1904)
• 
  The Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll widowed, 1915
• 
  The Son of the Artist, 1917
• 
  The Marchioness of Londonderry, Dbe, 1918
• 
  Portrait of Corisande, Marquise de Noailles, 1902
• 
  Portrait of The Rt. Hon. Sir Austen Chamberlain, 1920
• 
  Elaine, Duchesse de Gramont
• 
  Constantine I of Greece, April 1914
• 
  George II of Greece, 1914
• 
  Max Feilchenfeld 1902.
• 
  Mrs Theodore P. Grosvenor, née Anita Strawbridge
• 
  Catherine, Baroness d'Erlanger, 1899

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Philip Alexius de László.

• 122 paintings by or after Philip de László at the Art UK site
• Works by Philip Alexius de László (illustrator) at Faded Page (Canada)
• de László Catalogue Raisonné website
• National Portrait Gallery biographical profile and links to images; retrieved 15 August 2007.
• Articles on de László, jssgallery.org; accessed 15 August 2007.
• Interview with the Hon. Sandra de Laszlo regarding her grandfather-in-law's work and current appeal; retrieved 15 August 2007.
• Royal Society of Portrait Painters' millennium catalogue; accessed 17 October 2014.
• Portrait of Princess Victoria Alexandra Olga Mary of Wales (Oil on Cardboard, 1907), npg.org.uk; accessed 17 October 2014.