Illustrated letter from William Orpen to Mrs St George with a sketch of the artist dressed as a jockey

William Orpen , Irish, 1878-1931

Title

Date1910

MediumInk on paper

Dimensions

25.6 x 20.2 cm

Credit LinePresented, Mrs Vivien Graves, 1974

Object numberNGI.7830.29

DescriptionIn 1932, in a piece on Orpen’s self-portraiture, London art critic Paul G. Konody remarked: ‘Like Rembrandt he found his own features and the effect left upon them by the passing of the years a source of inexhaustible interest. No artist, save Rembrandt, has left so complete a pictorial autobiography.’ Like Rembrandt, Orpen had a fondness for adopting different characters that can be seen throughout his oeuvre. Here, we see him in the guise of a jockey, with whip in hand.

(Katie Buckley, Curatorial Fellow - Prints and Drawings, An Artist's Presence, 2025, Print Gallery)