Philip de Laszlo(1869-1937) is among the most celebrated British portraitists of the first half of the twentieth century. He portrayed the leading figures of his generation, including actresses, dictators, scientists, writers, politicians, princes and society figures. This fascinating introduction to his work takes us from his humble beginnings in Budapest and his student years in fin de siecle Paris and Munich, to his success as a society painter with commissions to paint kings, queens, presidents and two popes. In 1907 de Laszlo settled in England, where he began to move away from his sober early style towards bravura portraiture in the grand manner. On the retirement of John Singer Sargent he became Britain"s most favoured portraitist, and his sittings book not only remained full for the next two decades, but in 1930 he succeeded Walter Sickert as President of the Royal Society of British Artists. This publication concentrates on de Laszlo"s British career - astonishingly prolific years of great artistic achievement. The National Portrait Gallery, London holds twelve portraits by the artist, from a complete oeuvre of some 5,000 works, along with a collection of his correspondence. Dr Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, drawing on the artist"s papers and diaries, sets this work in the context of British art history and considers de Laszlo"s art as the last great flowering of a style stretching back to Van Dyck. This publication, and the display it accompanies (27 March-5 September 2010), will help to re-establish de Laszlo"s reputation alongside Sargent, Sir John Lavery and Giovanni Boldini as one of the foremost portraitists in early twentieth-century Britain. It includes the following list of illustrations: Laura Galambos, 1889; Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfurst, 1899; A Woman from Biskra, 1923; Self-portrait with his Wife and Son, 1918; The Last Days at Chequers, 1920; 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, 1920; Duchess of Portland, 1912; Jerome K. Jerome, 1921; Stephen de Laszlo, 1919; John de Laszlo, 1918; The First Drawing Lesson, 1919; Lucy de Laszlo, 1918; Faith Moore, 1920; 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, 1920; and, The Duchess of York, 1925.