Sir William Orpen 1917 : Official Papers; Correspondence; Manuscript 1917.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Yockney, Alfred, author.

Masterman, Charles F G, author.

Orpen, William, author.

Cowans, John, author.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

1917

Summary:

Description: After much confusion from the various interested parties, including Masterman, Buchan, various military representatives both in London and at the Front, and Beaverbrook at the Canadian War Memorials Committee, Orpen finally left for France in early April 1917 on a Wellington House commission. Although the main purpose was "big permanent paintings of value", Masterman was keen that Orpen should send back sketches that could be reproduced immediately "in order that we might show that his work is being used for national purposes", particularly to justify Orpen's presence there when other artists were "madly jealous". Letters from Orpen repeatedly stated how much he was enjoying the experience: "I have never been so interested in my life". There was also some confusion over terms and commitments, including an earlier commitment on Orpen's part to carry out work for the Canadian War Memorials Committee, and the issue of whether he should work on portraits or actual scenes of the war. The file includes a letter from Maurice Baring, at the Royal Flying Corps HQ, which coincidentally mentions a new edition of his 'A Year in Russia' which Orpen has previously read and which "has proved in some way prophetic". Some of the letters include small sketches to help identify drawings being sent back: German Prisoners Captured at Messines; The End of a Hero and a Tank at Courcelette; The Warwickshires Entering Peronne, March 1917 (IWM:ART 2986); Men in the Trenches near Hendicourt (IWM: ART 3041) (37) Men Resting, Bapaume Road (IWM:ART 2375); A Man Thinking (IWM:ART 2987); General Birdwood returning to his Headquarters (IWM:ART 3028); Entrance to a Dug-out, Beaumont-Hamel (IWM:ART 3029). The file records that the National War Museum had requested the originals of any works produced during Orpen's commission. By October 1917 Orpen was able to write that he had produced "some 30 odd canvases, and 80 or 90 drawings", which he offered to present to the nation, on condition that he could remain in France working for the British Government. "I know the work is bad but it is of certain interest in so much as the subjects never can or will be done again". The files also refer to his two portraits of "leading flying boys", Rhys Davids (IWM:ART 3004) and R T C Hoidge (IWM:ART 2996). In October 1917 Orpen was taken ill with "red blood poisoning." A letter refers to works recently sent over: IWM:ART 2984, 3024, 2990 and 3018.

Notes:

Description based on online resource (viewed on November 21, 2018).

AMDigital Reference: ART/WA1/089.