The present portrait is mentioned in a letter from the 12th Duc de Gramont to de László, regarding de László’s recently completed portraits and left in his studio in the Duc’s house on Avenue Henri Martin, Paris: 'All your portraits are gone except Pauline de Laborde; she left here till she goes in her new flat.' Her painting was among the six portraits de László was commissioned to paint in Paris in October 1924, and included that of the Queen of Greece.

The sitter was born Pauline de Rafelis de Saint Sauveur in Paris on 18 November 1876, the daughter of Paul Marie Raymond de Rafelis de Saint Sauveur (1839-1884) and Henriette Sidonie de Gontaut-Biron (1851-1933). She married Felix Alexandre Jean Leon, Marquis de Laborde (1877-1966) on 24 May 1924 in Paris. She died in Paris on 30 May 1954 at age 77.

We are grateful to Katherine Field for writing the catalogue entry for this portrait, which is included in the Philip de László catalogue raisonné, currently presented in progress online: www.delaszlocatalogueraisonne.com.