Ailsa Mellon Bruce

Philip Alexius de Laszlo (1869-1937) was a Hungarian-born British painter known as one of the most celebrated portrait painters of the early 20th century, whose elegant, fluent portraits of aristocrats, politicians, and society figures made him the successor to Sargent as the most sought-after portraitist in Europe and America. Ailsa Mellon Bruce from 1926 depicts the daughter of the American banker and philanthropist Andrew W. Mellon in the elegant, fluent manner that distinguishes de Laszlo's best portraits from the more formal work of his contemporaries. Ailsa Mellon Bruce (1906-1969) would later become an important art collector and philanthropist in her own right, and her father's collection formed the basis of the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Ailsa Mellon Bruce is important in the history of 20th-century portraiture because it demonstrates the elegant, fluent manner that de Laszlo brought to society portraiture as the successor to Sargent. De Laszlo's elegant society portraits—combining fluent brushwork with the ability to convey aristocratic presence—represent the last great tradition of European society portraiture, and the 1926 portrait of Ailsa Mellon Bruce connects this tradition to one of the most important families in American art philanthropy.

Ailsa Mellon Bruce is de Laszlo's elegant society portraiture: the daughter of Andrew W. Mellon rendered in the fluent manner of the successor to Sargent as the most sought-after portraitist in Europe and America. The 1926 portrait connects European society portraiture to one of the most important families in American art philanthropy.