Comtesse Robert de Pourtalès, née Marie Elisabeth van Rijck

De László was first commissioned to paint Comtesse de Pourtalès in Paris in early 1914. He must have been delighted by her vivacious beauty and asked her to sit for him again in September and October that year. He made four further study portraits of her at his studio in London, not as commissions but for his own artistic enjoyment. He presented one to Comtesse de Pourtalès in thanks for giving him the sittings.
Marie Elisabeth van Rijck van Rietwyk was born 18 March 1886 in Paris, the daughter of Willem Van Rijck from Batavia (1824-1898) and Clara Hoevenar Van Geldrop from Geldrop (1848-1932). After the early death of her father she and her younger siblings William and Clara were raised by their mother. On 25 June 1906 in Paris she married Comte Robert de Pourtalès (1874-1917), son of Albert de Pourtalès and Henriette Joly de Bammeville. The family resided at Château de Bandeville, Saint-Cyr-sous-Dourdan, Essonne. They had two sons, Gérard (born 1908) and James (born 1911).
She died at home, 9 rue Louis David, Paris, on 17 January 1917 and she is buried in the cemetery at Passy.
We are grateful to Katherine Field for writing the catalogue entry for this portrait, which will be included in the Philip de László catalogue raisonné, currently presented in progress online: www.delaszlocatalogueraisonne.com.