Sir William Orpen R.A., R.H.A.

The colours are fresher than the illustration suggests The board is sound and is slightly undulating in the centre. There are some scuff marks to the upper left corner and a small surface abrasion by the upper left edge, visible in the catalogue illustration. There are some old creases to the board in the upper left quadrant and a further surface scuff mark to the model's stomach together with some old minor flecks of paint loss to his stomach. The varnish has discoloured, the surface is dirty and there are some scattered spots of staining and the work would benefit from a light clean, otherwise in good original condition. Under ultraviolet light, there is an uneven varnish and there is an old minor line of retouching to the surface abrasion by the upper left edge. Held in a painted wood frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Life study was one of a number of areas in which William Orpen excelled during his years at the Slade School of Art between 1897-1899. Such was his precocity that by the end of his first year he took the First Class Certificate in 'Figure Painting' and a £5 prize for 'Figure Drawing'. He was only too aware of the art school tradition of the academie, or male nude test-piece which was central to training procedures, and he connected this immediately to the powerful realism in Spanish Caravaggesque painting, particularly in the work of artists such as Ribera. We may assume that canvases like The Rebel, 1902 (Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, Cork), and two versions of Job, 1905 (Johannesburg Art Gallery, South Africa and Pyms Gallery, London) owe their origins to his Slade studies. This is certainly how PG Konody interpreted the canvas derived from the present work,

'The Rebel, like all his paintings of the nude, is eloquent of the intense enjoyment he derived from this mastery. He revelled in the exercise of his skill, in evoking life out of a dead surface. Every stroke of the brush has its definite, expressive function in the modelling of bony and fleshy forms, in the building up of the muscular mechanism. The romantic title is merely a cloak for a scholarly, accomplished study of a male torso' (P.G. Konody and Sidney Dark, Sir William Orpen, Artist and Man, Seeley Service, London, 1932, p.158).

While the inscription on the back of the current work suggests that this may be a study for the Crawford Gallery picture, it does not contain the details of the Crawford version; a discarded hat, a shirt and what may be the muzzle of a rifle. Orpen may not have arrived at his final subject matter when he painted the present work, and the figure, covering his face with his right hand, may not yet be intended as a casualty of the barricades. A narrow cloth covers his loins, so the superbly executed underlying leg muscles on which the breeches eventually hang can still be seen. In the Crawford version, Orpen rolled the model over on to his back and only his torso and feet remain unclothed.

The Orpen Research Project