search
Published  01/03/2005
Share:  

William Orpen at the Imperial War Museum

William Orpen at the Imperial War Museum

William Orpen is currently up for reappraisal and the Imperial War Museum has started to make a name for itself in this way. Firstly, there was the superb Eric Ravilious exhibition last year. Now, Orpen has been rescued from the vaults and we can see full evidence of his remarkable talent. Orpen was born in 1878, into an Anglo-Irish Protestant family in Ireland. In some respects his background was similar to Francis Bacon, but this prodigy lived a generation earlier. The paintings which Orpen executed during the First World War formidably reveal the grit of war. This, coupled with an evident sexual promiscuity, gave Orpen all the motivation he needed to develop as a serious, committed painter.

studio international logo

Copyright © 1893–2024 Studio International Foundation.

The title Studio International is the property of the Studio International Foundation and, together with the content, are bound by copyright. All rights reserved.

twitter facebook instagram

Studio International is published by:
the Studio International Foundation, PO Box 1545,
New York, NY 10021-0043, USA