Cornelia Lotz in White Dress

Painted in 1900 and held at the Hungarian National Gallery, this portrait of Cornelia Lotz in a white dress belongs to the same intimate family portrait tradition as the earlier portrait of Ilona Lotz. By 1900 Lotz was in his mid-sixties and nearing the end of his active career, but his technical command remained undiminished — this late portrait demonstrates the same rigorous approach to white fabric and direct characterisation as his earlier works. Cornelia, another female family member, is presented with the directness and affection of a personal portrait that carries none of the public obligations of his commissioned work. The white dress sets a compositional challenge familiar to Lotz from the 1880 Ilona portrait: building a full tonal range within a near-uniform pale ground while keeping the sitter's face and personality the emotional centre of the image. The Hungarian National Gallery's holding of both Lotz daughters' portraits reflects the institution's comprehensive approach to the complete range of his output, including intimate personal works alongside major public paintings.

A late oil on canvas showing Lotz's sustained technical mastery in his sixties. The white dress is handled with confident, economical paint application, the accumulated experience of decades of figure painting enabling him to resolve the tonal complexity of white fabric with apparent ease. The sitter's face carries the particularised observation of genuine affection.