Portrait Artist Forum - Rare 1928 video footage of Phillip De Lazlo painting a portrait!

Gee, that was fun! Thank you much for posting this link, Marcus. The curiosity of being able to see this clip one and four score years after the fact is historically interesting, and very appealing nostalgically. I wanna be him when I grow up!

As "instruction", well . . . I have a problem with the value of demonstrations as an efficient teaching method anyway, without the deficiencies of time-stop, glare on the work surface and the black-and-white presentation. I would be very interested in knowing what, specifically, anyone has gleaned from this film that they can take back to their own easels, and I mean that very sincerely. I really would like to know !

For anyone interested enough in deLaszlo, to learn more about his methods beyond what the film shows, a search of out-of-print book sellers may yield "Painting a Portrait" by de Laszlo, recorded by A. L. Baldry, first published in England, 1934, by The Studio Limited, London, and later issued by The Studio Publications, New York, 1937 in their "How to do it" series. The book presents a useful foundation of general information for beginners (barring some of his technical advice - it would be well to avoid poppyseed oil)

As for deLaszlo himself, as a reasonably able mechanic, he was no more nor less "gifted" than most of the academicians of his era who adopted that bravura style which was expected at the time. Fortuitously for him, he was able to outlive Sargent . . . whose death two years before this film was made left quite a vacuum which deLaszlo and others were grateful to fill without ever coming within spitting distance of his abilities.

One need only take an objective look at the demo piece in the aforementioned book (portrait of Miss Ffrangcon-Davies in medieval costume) to appreciate the vast gulf between them. That in no way affects the basic soundness of the procedures he outlines.