Figure 1.-- The sitting was postponed a while. As she explained, "He is just losing his teeth too which does not improve his appearance." The portrait was painted a year later (1926). The portrait is rather informal, but curiously shows Charles wearing a rather formal blouse that would not have been chosen for informal dress. It looks rather like a Fauntleroy blouse which by the 1920s would have only been woirn for formal events. One source writes, "De László, with his alla primatechnique, probably executed this painting in two or three sittings of two hours. This gives freshness and immediacy to the portrait, which conveys well the spontaneity of childhood." We don't think the portrait quite achieves that, but we think it is better than the Andrew Elphinstone portrait.

Charles Douglas Conyers Lang was born (1918). His father was Capt. Conyers Frederick Woodroffe Laing (who had changed his name to Lang), and his wife Lorna Marsalie Burn. Lorna was the daughter of Sir Charles Rosdew Burn, later Sir Charles Rosdew Forbes-Leith, 1st Baronet of Fyvie (1891-1930). Both she and her father were painted by de László during World War (1915-16). Her brother Arthur was painted posthumously (1915). This was before László was interned because of his Hungarian birth. László apparently because of this relationship with her family, offered to paint Charles for a reduced fee when approached by his mother (1925). We suspect that the fee was still sizeable given László's status. The sitting was postponed a while. As she explained, "He is just losing his teeth too which does not improve his appearance." The portrait was painted a year later (1926). The portrait is rather informal, but curiously shows Charles wearing a rather formal blouse that would not have been chosen for informal dress. It looks rather like a Fauntleroy blouse which by the 1920s would have only been woirn for formal events. One source writes, "De László, with his alla primatechnique, probably executed this painting in two or three sittings of two hours. This gives freshness and immediacy to the portrait, which conveys well the spontaneity of childhood." We don't think the portrait quite achieves that, but we think it is better than the Andrew Elphinstone portrait. We do not know much about Charles, but he was awarded the Military Cross during World War II (1944).

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Created: 12:52 PM 10/13/2018
Last updated: 12:52 PM 10/13/2018