NOT SOLD (BIDDING OVER)
0.00EUR+ applicable fees & taxes.
This item WAS NOT SOLD. Auction date was 2005 Nov 29 @ 18:00UTC
Sir William Orpen RA RHA (1878-1931) AND CORN SHALL GROW IN THE DESERT, circa 1905 oil on canvas 61 by 76cm., 24 by 30in. Provenance: Mrs K. G. McLean, since 1925 Exhibited: ’Sir William Orpen, KBE RA’, New Chenil Galleries, London, June – July 1925, catalogue no. 44 The significance of this fine but unusual early Orpen oil is the extent to which it foreshadows the work of Jack B. Yeats. Two decades before Yeats embarked on a major stylistic change, in which featured mystery and narrative, mainly about Irish subjects and covering national fable and mythology, Orpen had explored the territory in canvases that are clearly meant to have a compelling sense of expectation. He takes a group of nine spectators and poses them on the edge of a miniature arena in which a tiny theatrical miracle is taking place. Its origins and meaning are obscure, but the sense of its importance is clearly evident in the different attitudes of the onlookers. They range in age from the boy, who is the master of whatever event it is, through the different ages of man. Orpen employs a trick familiar from the work of Bassano, identifying ourselves, the onlookers, through the expectant expression of a single figure, the man behind the boy’s shoulder. He has a proprietary interest in what is being presented and is looking out of the canvas with a hard and knowing expression. For the rest, they are in varying degrees mesmerised by what they see and filled with a kind of wonder. Orpen uses several models known to him at the time and employed for other works. The painting is closely related to other religious and festive scenes, all with narrative content, all conjuring with varying degrees of mystery. The scale and the quality of his palette, dark and sombre in the manner of Rembrandt, who was the presiding influence over his work at this time, is powerfully effective. Bruce Arnold, Dublin, October 2005 Editor’s Note: Christopher Pearson of the Orpen Research Project has suggested that the work may be an allegory on the state of the arts in Ireland, comparing it to Sowing New Seed, 1913 (Mildura Arts Centre, Australia), in which Orpen depicts a partially clad young woman idly sprinkling the seeds of creativity over barren ground. The work was a thinly veiled protest at Orpen’s frustration with the system of arts education in Ireland at the time. In this context the present work seems to imply that a miracle would be needed in order for the arts to flourish in the perceived cultural desert of Ireland (ed.). This work will be included in the catalogue raisonné currently being prepared by the Orpen Research Project.
Auction Location:
Minverva Suite, RDS, Ballsbridge (beside Main Hall, Merrion Road), Dublin, Ireland
Previewing Details:
Exhibition: Saturday and Sunday November 26 and 27, 10am to 6pm; Monday November 28, 10am to 9pm; Tuesday, November 29 (day of sale) 10am to 2pm. NO VIEWING AFTER 2pm ON DAY OF SALE.
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Buyer's Premiums:
| From (Incl.) | To (Excl.) | Premium |
| 0.00 |
999.00 |
15% |
| 1,000.00 |
9,999.00 |
15% |
| 10,000.00 |
Infinite |
10% |
Additional Fees:
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