If the word “Impressionism” brings to mind only France, pay attention to the work of William Orpen. This is the most famous British impressionist and an outstanding portrait painter of Irish origin.

However, among the vast heritage of the master there are works of different genres, including military themes and propaganda posters.

Biography

Already at the age of 11, the boy, who showed the ability to draw, entered the Dublin School of Art, and at the age of 17 he continued his studies at the School of Fine Arts in London.

In 1902, Orpen, with his artist friend, opened his own art school and workshop, where he studied with students and painted to order. At this time, he is looking for his own style and paints in a different manner. The artist was influenced by the work of the old Flemish masters, James Whistler and Edouard Manet.

Having achieved some success, Orpen began teaching at the Dublin School of Art and had a noticeable influence on Irish painting.

But the events of 1916, when the struggle for Irish independence intensified, did not find a response in the soul of the artist. In the conditions of the First World War, he took the uprising as a betrayal and no longer visited his homeland.

Orpen himself in wartime worked in the military propaganda department and, with the rank of major, visited the front in France, and he donated funds from the sale of paintings to the Red Cross. For this, in 1918, he was knighted. At the same time, a large exhibition was organized, which included 50 paintings and 70 drawings on a military theme. Some of the paintings were clearly anti-war in nature and caused a flurry of criticism. A year later, Orpen became a member of the Royal Academy of Arts.

William Orpen – master of portraits Portrait genre

Orpen took up seriously on the advice of the artist John Sargent and found his main calling. It was portraiture that brought him success, fame and prosperity. Most willingly, the artist depicted beautiful women. For example, his own wife, Grace, whom he married in 1901. However, the marriage lasted only a few years, and Orpen had many more attractive models. A young washerwoman, charming neighbor Vera Hohn and Frenchwoman Yvonne Aubic, nicknamed “the refugee” are just some of them.

Orpen’s portrait gallery is not limited to beautiful girls. He captured on canvas many military, political figures, aristocrats and members of the royal family. It is known that Winston Churchill (Winston Churchill) was shocked by his portrait and said that the artist depicted his soul. Through the eyes of a painter, we can see the British prime ministers, the most famous scientists and artists of that era.

Orpen’s creative heritage includes more than 600 portraits. The most expensive is “Portrait of Lady Idina Wallace”, sold at Sotheby’s for almost a million British pounds.