54

Sir William Orpen RA RHA (1878-1931) CANY AT THE FIRST inscribed with title lower centre pen and ...

Currency:EUR Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA
Sir William Orpen RA RHA (1878-1931) CANY AT THE FIRST inscribed with title lower centre pen and ...
Sir William Orpen RA RHA (1878-1931)
CANY AT THE FIRST
inscribed with title lower centre
pen and ink on paper
25 by 20cm., 10 by 8in.
Provenance:
Estate of Sir John Rothenstein;
Mr & Mrs Herbert Schimmel;
Whitford Fine Art, London;
Private collection, Dublin
In this sketch of Orpen’s mistress, the Slade school model and aspirant
architect Emily Scobel, Orpen reveals a demure, modest side to his model.
Scobel, Orpen and Albert Rothenstein travelled to Cany, in Normandy, during the
summer of 1900. Earlier in the year, Scobel had posed for two of Orpen’s most
successful works, The Mirror and The English Nude. Whilst staying at Cany,
Scobel became the subject of another major work, The Bedroom, and shortly after
their return to London posed as the anxious wife in A Mere Fracture. In the
present sketch her demure pose resembles that of Grace, Orpen’s soon-to-be wife,
but her casually draped tasselled shawl hints at the rather more sensual side of
Scobel’s character, as portrayed in other sketches such as The Fancy Dress Ball
of Cany (sold through these rooms, 18 November 2003, lot 54).
€4,000-€6,000 (£2,700-£4,000 sterling approx.)