Comtesse Robert de Pourtalès, née Marie Elisabeth van Rijck 1914

Philip Alexius de László painted Comtesse Robert de Pourtalès, née Marie Elisabeth van Rijck, with oils, maybe in one sitting, perhaps over several. The neutral palette gives a sense of this lady emerging from the canvas. I can imagine de László dabbing and swiping, building up the form, losing the form, finding it again. The colour is scrubbed into the weave of the canvas, and the surface is raw, which keeps it lively and open. The Comtesse is lost in thought. Maybe she’s bored? Or thinking about what to have for dinner? De László captures her faraway gaze so well. He knew what he was doing. He’s in dialogue with Manet and Whistler, and the old masters, but bringing his own sensibility to this understated portrait. Painters talk to each other across centuries, picking up threads, throwing them away, starting again. That’s what’s so exciting about painting. It is never-ending, it’s embodied, and it leaves space for feeling.