A collection of 120 portraits by Vilma Lwoff-Parlaghy documented the faces of prominent Americans and Europeans between 1884 and 1923. Born in Hajdúdorog in 1863, she became a notable figure in the art circles of Munich, Berlin, and Paris before establishing a career as a high-society portraitist in New York City.
Early Career and European Success
The artist, born Brachfeld Vilma Erzsébet, underwent training in Budapest before moving to Munich. Under the instruction of Franz Quaglio and Wilhelm Dürr the Younger, she adopted techniques popularized by Franz von Lenbach. Her 1890 portrait of her mother earned her early public recognition in Berlin. Shortly after, she faced professional controversy regarding the rejection and subsequent imperial reinstatement of a portrait of William II. Throughout the early 1890s, she expanded her reputation by exhibiting at the Salon de Paris and the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
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Lwoff-Parlaghy first traveled to New York in 1896. In 1899, she married Prince Georgy Lvov in Prague, though the marriage ended in divorce. She retained the title Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy with the Prince's authorization. During this period, she balanced her life between European cities including Berlin and Nice, and the United States. She returned to New York permanently in 1908, settling into a fourteen-room suite at the Plaza Hotel where she maintained a lavish lifestyle and an exotic pet lion named Goldfleck.
The New York Portraitist
In Manhattan, she secured commissions from influential figures, including Andrew Carnegie, Chauncey Mitchell Depew, and Nikola Tesla. Her 1916 portrait of Tesla was the only one for which the inventor sat during his life. Despite her social prominence, her financial situation deteriorated following the 1914 outbreak of World War I. She faced mounting debts from her Plaza residence and eventually vacated her suite. She spent her final years in a small room on East 39th Street, dying there in 1923.
Fast facts
- Born: 1863, Hajdúdorog
- Died: 1923, New York City
- Buried: Woodlawn Cemetery
- Notable work: Portrait of Andrew Carnegie
- Notable work: Portrait of Ludwig Windthorst
- Notable work: The Poet Eduard von Bauernfeld
- Notable work: Chauncey Mitchell Depew, B.A. 1856, LL.D. 1887, Fellow 1888-1906
Questions readers ask
Did she hold a royal title?
Yes, she adopted the title Princess Lwoff-Parlaghy after marrying Prince Georgy Lvov in 1899, with his authorization.
Where is she buried?
She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.
Achievements
- Notable work: Portrait of Andrew Carnegie
- Notable work: Portrait of Ludwig Windthorst
- Notable work: The Poet Eduard von Bauernfeld
- Notable work: Chauncey Mitchell Depew, B.A. 1856, LL.D. 1887, Fellow 1888-1906
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