Leon Sprinck (1886-1948)

Leon Sprinck (1866-1948). A portrait painter in oil and pastel who was born in the Rue St Honoré, Paris, late in 1866, the son of John Louis Sprinck (1825–1896) and his Danish wife, Marie Wilhelmina (née Orfa, c.1848–1899). Both he and his parents had arrived as adopted Norwegian citizens, and early in 1898 Leon naturalised as a British one. In the third quarter of 1898, when his address was 9 Duke Street, Portland Place, he married in Hampstead to Emilie (or Emily) second daughter of Francis Bienfait Macdonald (c.1831–1901). She was also musical and a professional portrait miniaturist and copyist who exhibited between 1908 and 1935. Sprinck had his first and only portrait (Louis Ries Esq.) hung at the Royal Academy in 1893, sent in from 4 Langham Chambers, Portland Place. Although he is only known to have exhibited two other items at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, and one at the Royal Hibernian Academy up to 1903, he rapidly won a name as a prolific society portraitist, especially in pastels – for which his father was also noted – and notably those of children. A portrait of the Countess of Tankerville with her son, later Lord Ossulston, drew the attention of Princess (later Queen) Alexandra, who became a friendly admirer. His first royal sitter was her husband, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (Edward VII from 1901), but he also painted her, George V, Edward, Prince of Wales (briefly Edward VIII), many aristocratic figures, civic dignitaries and other notables. He was also a Freemason, enrolling in the Marylebone Lodge in 1906, and painted others who were. In the late 1920s, when his studio was in Chelsea, he developed a strong visiting American clientele and was reported as considering going there, though whether he did so is not yet known. Sprinck died in mid-December 1948. His death age was given as 86, which may be why his birth is often stated as in 1862.