Sir William Orpen

1878–1931

Sir William Orpen, ‘The Mirror’ 1900 — The Mirror 1900
License this image

In Tate Britain

Aftermath: Art in the Wake of World War One

Now booking

In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Rooms

View by Appointment

Biography

Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, (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 World War I, 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 Britain.

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.

This biography is from Wikipedia under an Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License. Spotted a problem? Let us know.

Read full Wikipedia entry

Artworks

Sir William Orpen, ‘The Mirror’ 1900

Sir William Orpen The Mirror

1900

N02940

Sir William Orpen, ‘Zonnebeke’ 1918

Sir William Orpen Zonnebeke

1918

On display at Tate Britain part of Aftermath T07694

Sir William Orpen, ‘The Angler’ c.1912

Sir William Orpen The Angler

c.1912

N02997

Sir William Orpen, ‘Anita’ 1905

Sir William Orpen Anita

1905

T07136

Sir William Orpen, ‘Anatomical Study, Male Torso’ c.1906

Sir William Orpen Anatomical Study, Male Torso

c.1906

T13365

Sir William Orpen, ‘Sir William McCormick’ 1920

Sir William Orpen Sir William McCormick

1920

N03628

Sir William Orpen, ‘The Model’ 1911

Sir William Orpen The Model

1911

N03530

Sir William Orpen, ‘Lady Orpen’ exhibited 1907

Sir William Orpen Lady Orpen

exhibited 1907

N03549

Artist as subject

Sir Max Beerbohm, ‘The New English Art Club’ 1907

Sir Max Beerbohm The New English Art Club

1907

N06075

Sir Max Beerbohm, ‘Bravura: Sir William Orpen’ 1914

Sir Max Beerbohm Bravura: Sir William Orpen

1914

View by appointment N06043

Anita Bartle, Grant Richards (London, UK), ‘This is my Birthday’ 1902

Anita Bartle, Grant Richards (London, UK) This is my Birthday

1902

TGA 969/2/4

Ben Nicholson OM, ‘Copy of a typescript with the heading, ‘William Nicholson’’ March 1967

Ben Nicholson OM Copy of a typescript with the heading, ‘William Nicholson’

March 1967

View by appointment TGA 8717/3/1/20

Henry Scott Tuke, ‘Diary of Henry Scott Tuke’ 12 March 1899–31 December 1905

Henry Scott Tuke Diary of Henry Scott Tuke

12 March 1899–31 December 1905

TGA 9019/1/1/1

Features

Tate Etc

Confronting Oblivion

Joanna Bourke explores how British, German, Belgian and French artists expressed the psychological fallout of the First World War

Letter from Kenneth Armitage to Joan Moore, Edgeworthstown, Co. Westmeath, 1941, Tate Archive

Blog

Archives & Access Project: Cracked looking-glass of a servant: Ireland and ‘quite Irish’ art in Tate Archive

Tate Britain is the National Gallery of British Art, with a remit to collect British works of art from around ...

You might like

Augustus John OM, ‘Madame Suggia’ 1920–3

Augustus John OM

1878–1961

Sir William Rothenstein, ‘Parting at Morning’ 1891

Sir William Rothenstein

1872–1945

Ambrose McEvoy, ‘The Ear-Ring’ exhibited 1911

Ambrose McEvoy

1878–1927

Henry Lamb, ‘Lytton Strachey’ 1914

Henry Lamb

1883–1960

Harold Gilman, ‘Mrs Mounter at the Breakfast Table’ 1916–17

Harold Gilman

1876–1919

Sir Muirhead Bone, ‘In the War Zone’ 1916

Sir Muirhead Bone

1876–1953

David Bomberg, ‘The Mud Bath’ 1914

David Bomberg

1890–1957

Henry Tonks, ‘Rosamund and the Purple Jar’ exhibited 1900

Henry Tonks

1862–1937

Walter Richard Sickert, ‘Ennui’ c.1914

Walter Richard Sickert

1860–1942

Wyndham Lewis, ‘Workshop’ c.1914–15

Wyndham Lewis

1882–1957

John Singer Sargent, ‘Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose’ 1885–6

John Singer Sargent

1856–1925

Glyn Warren Philpot, ‘Repose on the Flight into Egypt’ 1922

Glyn Warren Philpot

1884–1937

Flora Lion, ‘My Mother’ 1909

Flora Lion

1878–1958

Meredith Frampton, ‘Marguerite Kelsey’ 1928

Meredith Frampton

1894–1984

Sir Gerald Kelly, ‘The Jester (W. Somerset Maugham)’ 1911

Sir Gerald Kelly

1879–1972