Portrait of Wilhelmine Preetorius

Wilhelmine Preetorius, known as Elma, was born in Mainz on 15 August 1878, the daughter of Wilhelm Preetorius (1852-1924) and his wife Marie Emilie, née Michell (1857-1934).
Wilhelm, who was an early admirer of de László’s work, chose to accommodate his guest in a hotel rather than in his own house, as, in the artist's words: 'his elder daughter, Elma, was very attractive and rather a flirt. I was almost twenty-five, and she was only eighteen, with rich dark hair, pale, well-dressed, and enterprising-looking. While I was changing he hurried home, and to prevent Elma from taking too much interest in me told her (with the connivance of his wife) that I was a very delicate, rather consumptive-looking young man!'
De László spent three weeks in Mainz and 'felt happy from morning till night. I had my meals with the family: and the consumptive young painter did not resent the girl flirt! I became a member of the family.' During his stay de László made in addition to the present portrait, which well reflects Elma's flirtatiousness, two more portraits of her: a more formal seated three-quarter-length and a lively head study. He also painted her sister Friedel twice.The two girls adored the young painter and after their initial meeting he would send them postcards and little gifts of coins and sweets. They stayed in contact until long after Elma and Frieda were both married.
On 2 June 1899 Elma married Max Ibach, a piano maker from Wuppertal. They had a son, René - named after his mother’s brother - and a daughter, Ruth. Tragedy beset the family: in a letter from 16 August 1916, her father Wilhelm Preetorius wrote to de László: 'You may have heard about the death of Elma’s husband but probably not that we also lost René on 28 December 1915. He couldn’t cope with the demands that were made on him and took his own life in an attack of melancholy.'
In December 1923 Elma married again, 'a Swedish judge, Oláf Wickman og Rundelsgaten, in Malmö. The wedding was held quietly in Malmö on the 11th of this month. Wickman is a good looking dark haired man, as tall as Elma and the same age, a clean-shaven English type and very kind, and we hope that he will bring lasting happiness to Elma who has gone through such difficult times.'
Elma died on 25 December 1964.
We are grateful to Katherine Field for writing the catalogue entry for this portrait, which is included in the Philip de László catalogue raisonné, currently presented in progress online: www.delaszlocatalogueraisonne.com.