[Illustrated letter from William Orpen to Mrs St George with a sketch of the artist fishing]

Sketch on Screebe Lodge headed paper of the artist fishing during a visit to Screebe, Co. Galway.

nd

Ink on paper

Orpen visited Screebe Lodge in 1907, 1908, 1909 and 1910 to paint four portraits of Gardenia St George.

Private Collection

Prints & Drawings Department

 

 

Sir William Orpen, Irish artist, born in Dublin, Orpen trained at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art before moving to London to study at the Slade School of Fine Art. He remained in London and became a highly successful portrait and subject painter. Appointed Official War Artist in 1917, Orpen left for France and was stationed at Amiens and the Somme Battlefields. He returned to London after the war and remained there until his death.

Florence Evelyn St George, eldest child of New York banker George F Baker. In 1906 while married to Howard Bligh St George she began a relationship with Sir William Orpen.