Sir William Orpen, R.H.A., R.A. (1878-1931)

Christmas Day at Howth

Details

Sir William Orpen, R.H.A., R.A. (1878-1931)
Christmas Day at Howth
signed, inscribed and numbered '12./My dear Lady = This shows your Woppy's Christmas Day/at Howth = not very cheerful looking I admit = I'm/just looking away across the sea and thinking of you/all = I ordered for Alci & Vivien a toy/cinematograph which I think is quite amusing/quite safe if you put an electric bulb in instead/of a lamp = of course its German = but they tell me/it won't help them any their selling them = Zink/has just come for me to go out and watch him/bathe!!! so must stop. my love to the children/William Orpen' (centre left)
pencil
10½ x 7¾ in. (26.7 x 19.7 cm.)

Provenance

Mrs Evelyn St George, and by descent.

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Lot Essay

This letter dates to 1912-14. Vivien was born 1st January 1912 and Orpen did not return to Ireland after 1914. The reference to the Germans suggests the Christmas just before the outbreak of the War, when tensions were mounting, or just after its commencement in 1914, i.e. the day of the famous Christmas Day truce. During December, since about 1902, Orpen had returned to Dublin to teach for a few weeks at the Metropolitan School of Art, and from 1909 had spent his summer holidays at Howth, on the Northern arm of Dublin Bay.
The Orpen Research Project.

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