Sir William Orpen
Person Male Born 27/11/1878 Died 29/9/1931
Painter. Born William Newenham Montague Orpen at Oriel, Blackrock, County Dublin. He was an official artist in World War I and attended the Versailles Peace Conference. Deeply affected by the suffering he witnessed in the war, he painted 'To the Unknown British Soldier Killed in France' showing a coffin flanked by a pair of soldiers clothed only in tattered blankets. The painting was attacked by the press as being unpatriotic and in bad taste, and he was forced to paint out the figures. Died at 2 Clareville Grove, South Kensington. The painting on the left is a self-portrait.
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