[Cropped letter from William Orpen to Mrs St George with a sketch of 'Boy with Dolphin']

Handwritten letter which has been cropped removing the majority of the text. In the fragment that remains, there is a sketch of Andrea del Verrocchio's sculpture, 'Boy with Dolphin'.

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Ink on paper

Andrea del Verrocchio's 'Boy with Dolphin' was a popular plaster cast among art schools of the time and liked by Orpen. It appears in a number of Orpen's paintings including 'The Poet' (1921) and was in 'To the Unknown British Soldier in France' (1922) but later painted over.

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.