William Orpen

Sir William Orpen was an Irish-born British painter who attended the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin and the Slade School of Art in London. In 1902 he opened an art school in Chelsea. He was financially one of the most successful, and eventually one of the most honored, portrait painters working in Britain in the 20th century, although he was partially color blind. Orpen painted more than 600 portraits mainly of well-known British High Society personalities. His portrait style was indebted to Édouard Manet (1832-1883) and Diego Velázquez (1599-1660). During World War I, Orpen was the most prolific of the official artists sent by Britain to the Western Front. After the peace conference in Versailles in 1919, he painted the famous The Signing of Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, 28 June 1919. As a result of his war experiences, he later suffered from alcoholism. His brother Richard Francis Caulfield Orpen was a well known architect and watercolor artist, and was a governor and guardian of the National Gallery of Ireland.

As a member of the jury in 1928, Sir William Orpen was not allowed to be awarded a prize, so he exhibited “out of competition”. The Dead Ptarmigan was a well-known self-portrait painted in 1909. The painting (oil on canvas, 100 x 91 cm), formerly owned by Colonel Sir Hutcheson Poe, is now in the National Gallery of Ireland. There is an interesting story behind Sergeant Murphy and Things. Sergeant Murphy was a highly successful horse in steeplechase races. The painting (oil on canvas, 75 x 102 cm) from 1923 or 1924 also shows its jockey, Captain Tuppy Bennett, trainer George Blackwell and his American owner Stephen “Laddie” Sanford. The title refers to a painting by the famous Sir Alfred Munnings titled Sergeant Murphy and Trainer. Orpen showed Munnings in his painting on the right as a spectator of the scene. In 1924, Lord Dewar bought the painting from the artist for £500. In 2020 it was auctioned for € 175,000.