W hat does it mean to be modern? In the years before the First World War, British painters William Orpen, J. D. Fergusson and Harold Gilman were finding very different answers. From the theatrical elegance of Spain to the radical colours of Paris, new ideas were crossing borders and challenging the conventions of portraiture. At the centre of this changing artistic landscape were three women, each captured through a distinct vision of modern life.
Look closer, and the differences become even more revealing. A gaze, a bold outline, a shift in colour or the treatment of a face can tell us as much about a changing Europe as any manifesto. Influenced by artists including Velázquez, Goya, Matisse, Van Gogh and Cézanne, these painters forged individual paths through a world of restless artistic experimentation. Together, their works offer a glimpse of how modern art took shape through encounters, influences and ideas that refused to stay within borders.
These striking portraits are highlights of the Modern British & Irish Art Evening Auction taking place at Sotheby's London on 14 October, presented by St Regis.
