SIR WILLIAM ORPEN
Irish, 1878-1931
Portrait of Grace Orpen (née Knewstub)
Signed and dated Wm Orpen '05
Coloured chalks on paper
Image: 12 x 9½ inches (30.5 x 24.2 cm)
Sheet: 15 x 11 inches (38 x 28 cm)
Framed: 22 x 19 inches (56 x 48.4 cm)
William Orpen met his future wife, Grace Knewstub, while on holiday with fellow artists Augustus John and Charles Conder at Vattetot-sur-Mer, Normandy in the summer of 1899. They married in London in August 1901 and remained close friends of Augustus and Ida John. They had three children, Diana, Christine and Mary. Grace's elder sister, Alice Mary Knewstub, was married to the painter William Rothenstein.
Provenance
Messrs. P. & D. Colnaghi & Obach, London, c.1912-1916
Private Collection, Connecticut
P.O.R.