William Orpen, Irish, 1878-1931
Title: Sketches of a Female Nude, a Male Model and a Sculptor
Date: c.1899
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimensions:
23.5 x 18.5 cm
Credit Line: Presented, Mr. Arthur Reynolds, 2017
Object Number: NGI.2017.27
DescriptionThis sheet of drawings, from a sketchbook Orpen used while a student at the Slade School of Art in London (1897-1899), bears the hallmarks of the artist he was to become. The relatively finished sketches of a female nude and a foot are complemented by an informal sketch of a male model and caricatures of a sculptor. This figure is shown twice, one a head and shoulders sketch showing him in traditional smock with elegant moustache while the other shows him from the back, working on a clay model. The finely drawn figures were presumably made in the life room and Orpen’s sense of fun comes through in the caricature of the sculptor whose identity is unknown. Although he gifted five other student period sketchbooks to his fellow Slade student and friend Michael Salaman he held onto this particular book and it remained in his studio until his death in 1931. It was acquired by Bruce Arnold in 1970 who removed the drawings from the binding and exhibited them in his Neptune Gallery in the summer of 1971. This drawing, number 14 ‘Female nude with other figures’ was purchased at that sale. There may be a connection with Hugh Lane as other drawings from this sketchbook appear to depict the Dublin art-dealer who according to Bruce Arnold was Orpen’s distant cousin. Although Robert O’Byrne in his biography of Lane (2000) does not confirm it, Lane and Orpen were thought to have shared accommodation in London at the turn of the century. Lane encouraged Orpen and arranged commissions while through his Slade connections, Orpen introduced the art-dealer to young upcoming artists whose work Lane would probably not have been aware of otherwise.
ProvenanceThe Artist’s Studio; Bruce Arnold (The Neptune Gallery) 1970; bought by Arthur Reynolds, Dun Laoghaire
Exhibition HistoryNew Perspectives. Acquisitions 2011 - 2020, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 11 May - 2 August 2021