William Orpen
, Irish, 1878-1931
Title
The Winner (The Champ)Date1913
MediumGraphite, watercolour and white chalk on paper
Dimensions
76 × 53.8 cm
Signedlower right: ORPEN. DUBLIN
Credit LinePurchased, 2024
Object numberNGI.2024.9
DescriptionThe draughtsmanship and anatomical accuracy of this finished drawing is exceptional. It complements the drawings by Orpen in the Gallery’s collection, though the subject of the boxer is unique. Boxing, as a burgeoning sport in its own right, was of interest to Orpen, who, back in July 1910, bet £4 on the outcome of the World Heavyweight Championship between Jack Johnson and James J Jefferies. The connection of the drawing to John Count McCormack is also significant, as the Irish tenor agreed to purchase the drawing directly from Orpen for the sum of £50, during a sitting for his own portrait, which also forms part of the Gallery’s collection (NGI.2009.11). Having first been purchased by the renowned singer in 1924, the drawing then passed to his son Cyril Count McCormack. The drawing relates to another carefully drawn three-figure composition titled The Boxer, c.1913, with both works capturing the moments straight after a ‘knock-out’. From contemporary photographs, the triumphant boxer in this drawing, with his distinctive cleft chin, is most likely Joseph Warren, widely known as 'Cyclone' Billy Warren (c.1876/1877-1951). Having boxed in Australia, the United States and across Europe, Warren became a familiar Dublin character in the latter part of his life. Orpen probably made the drawing during his time as a visiting teacher at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (DMSA), where he is known to have revolutionised the life class. Orpen finished up his post at the DMSA in 1914, the year after this drawing was completed. The drawing was reproduced as a photogravure facsimile by Charles Chenil and Co in a set of ten published in a special portfolio at the end of 1913. In this context, it stands apart from the artist’s Howth and other loosely autobiographical or family drawings in that group
ProvenanceThe Irish News Collection, Belfast; Purchased 2024Exhibition HistoryRecent Works by William Orpen, M. Knoedler & Co., New York, 1914. Cat. No. 12
Recent Works by William Orpen, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Buffalo, 1914, Cat. No. 12
Summer Exhibition, New English Art Club, London, 1923, Cat. No. 170
Sir William Orpen, Centenary Exhibition, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, Cat. No. 226
William Orpen, Politics, Sex and Death, Imperial War Museum, London, 2005, Cat. No. 95. p. 145 (Col. ill.)
William Orpen, Politics, Sex and Death, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 2005, Cat. No. 95. p. 145 (Col. ill.)
Lines From Nature and Memory, Pyms Gallery, London, 2011 - 2012