Auguste Victoria, Queen of Portugal, in exile, a study 1915

This is a study of Auguste Victoria, Queen of Portugal, in exile, made with oil by Philip Alexius de László. The artist is really laying it on thick here, in this loose and energetic painting of a Queen! Look at how the buttery paint swirls around her, especially in the background. It's like he's trying to capture not just her likeness, but maybe something about her state of mind. You can almost feel the weight of the paint, mirroring the weight of her situation. It looks like he used big brushes, maybe even a palette knife, to move the paint around, creating these gorgeous, textural surfaces. Check out the area around her hands – the way the paint is dragged and scumbled gives them an almost ghostly quality. De László reminds me of John Singer Sargent, both capturing the elegance of their subjects with bravura brushwork and a keen eye for detail. This painting feels like a conversation between tradition and innovation, a balance between representation and pure, expressive paint handling.