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The Hungarian painter Philip Alexius de László (1869 – 1937) became one of the main portrait artists of the early XNUMXth century. A charming and prolific artist, whose subjects included socialites, aristocrats and royalty, he portrayed, among many names, Teddy Roosevelt and Queen Elizabeth II as a princess.

The painting “Anny Ahlers as Madame Dubarry” (1933) was one of his last works and has a lot of history behind it.

That's because in 1932, Sir Merrik Burrell was taken by his daughter, Dreda, to attend a performance in which the beautiful and talented German actress and singer Anny Ahlers was the star. Behold, the gentleman fell madly in love with the artist and, as he was single and recently separated from his second wife, he became a regular visitor to the theater and ardent admirer of Ms. Ahlers.

He then commissioned a half-length portrait of the actress from László, of the type that was customary for the protagonist to display in the foyer of the theater in which she performed. What Sir Burrell did not expect is that the painter would be so impressed by the girl's stunning beauty that he could not bear the idea of ​​undertaking such a moderate commission, preferring to take the risks of painting a full-length portrait.

Unfortunately, fate did not want Anny Ahlers to live to see her image immortalized by the artist's hands. She died in an accident, before the portrait was completed, on March 14, 1933 and aged just twenty-six, having fallen from the balcony of the apartment where she lived at the time.

Sir Merrick's daughter Dreda was persuaded by her father and artist to pose for the painting's completion.

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