William Orpen
| Sir William Orpen | |
|---|---|
William Orpen, Self-Portrait painting Sowing New Seed (1913) (Saint Louis Art Museum)
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| Born |
William Newenham Montague Orpen 27 November 1878 Stillorgan, County Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 29 September 1931 (aged 52) London, England |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Education | |
| Known for | Portrait painter, War artist |
| Awards | Knighted 1918; RA 1921. |
Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, KBE, RA, RHA (27 November 1878 – 29 September 1931) was an Irish artist who worked mainly in London. Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful, painter of portraits for the well-to-do in Edwardian society, though many of his most striking paintings are self-portraits.
During the First World War, he was the most prolific of the official artists sent by Britain to the Western Front. There he produced drawings and paintings of ordinary soldiers, dead men, and German prisoners of war, as well as portraits of generals and politicians. Most of these works, 138 in all, he donated to the British government and they are now in the collection of the Imperial War Museum. His connections to the senior ranks of the British Army allowed him to stay in France longer than any of the other official war artists, and although he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1918 King's birthday honours list, and also elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts, his determination to serve as a war artist cost him both his health and his social standing in England.
After his early death, a number of critics, including other artists, were loudly dismissive of his work and for many years his paintings were rarely exhibited, a situation that only began to change in the 1980s.
Born in Stillorgan, County Dublin, William Orpen was the fourth and youngest son of Arthur Herbert Orpen (1830–1926), a solicitor, and his wife, Anne Caulfield (1834–1912), the eldest daughter of the Right Rev. Charles Caulfield (1804–1862), the Bishop of Nassau. Both his parents were amateur painters, and his eldest brother, Richard Caulfeild Orpen, became a notable architect. The historian Goddard Henry Orpen was a second cousin of his. The family lived at Oriel, a large house with extensive grounds containing stables and a tennis court. Orpen appears to have had a happy childhood there.
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