Bildnis Graf Heinrich Larisch-Moennich 1905

This is Philip Alexius de László’s portrait of Count Heinrich Larisch-Moennich, painted with oils, standing with his dog. You can see the artist has used very controlled brushwork to create a realistic, if stately, representation of the Count. I wonder, when László was creating this painting, was he asked to make him look noble, and important? He has definitely succeeded. The Count has the trappings of wealth, that velvet jacket, the leather gloves, and a curtain like gold! He looks like someone of great importance, but also someone a little stern. I wonder if he liked dogs or whether it was included to demonstrate that he was also a country gentleman. I feel like László might have been looking at work by Van Dyke, and the way he painted members of the English aristocracy. Artists are always in conversation with each other, trying out different ways of doing things. Painting is such an embodied expression, and it is always open to our own interpretations, and that is what makes looking at art so exciting.