Beschreibung:

DescriptionProperty from the Collection of Sir Michael SmurfitSir William Orpen R.A., R.H.A.1878 - 1931Portrait of Mary, Lady Gerard in a Green Dress
signed and dated ORPEN 1904 lower rightoil on canvas, ovalUnframed: 99 by 67cm., 39 by 26¼in.Framed: 124.5 by 93cm., 49 by 36½in.Condition reportThe canvas is lined. Overall the work appears in good condition. Some small spots of surface dirt and discolouration near centre of right edge, and to her brow, cheek and chest. Some tiny spots of paint loss above her right shoulder and below her right hand. Some fine traces of craquelure in her hair and in lower half of composition. Ultraviolet light reveals an opaque varnish. There appear to be retouchings to her hair, possibly some minor ones to her brow, and to her dress. Also a horizontal line of retouching along lower edge and a few further retouchings elsewhere.
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The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.ProvenanceLady Gerard and thence by family descent circa 1955Sale: Christie’s, London, 8 November 1990, lot 48Sale: Christie’s, Dublin, 29 June 1994, lot 186Sale: Christie's, London, 9 May 1996, lot 106Purchased at the above sale by the present owner LiteratureP.G. Konody & Sidney Dark, Sir William Orpen Artist and Man, Seeley, Service & Co, 1932, p. 266
Bruce Arnold, Orpen, Mirror to an Age, Jonathan Cape, London, 1981, p. 116-118Catalogue noteIn May 1903, the young Orpen encountered the recently widowed Mary Emmeline Laura, Lady Gerard (1854-1918). A grande dame from the infamous ‘Marlborough House Set’, Lady Gerard was the daughter of Henry Beilby Milner, second son of the fourth Baron Milner. Her husband, William, second Baron Gerard (1851-1902), was an army officer with an estate at Eastwell Park in Kent, a large Tudor mansion that had previously been tenanted by Prince Albert, Edward VII’s younger brother.
As Arnold recounts, the present commission originated with the completion of Orpen’s portrait of the sitter’s nephew by marriage, Lord Scarborough, at the end of 1902. Upon arrival in May 1903, the young painter discovered that the house party consisted of ‘Duchesses, Dukes, Ladys (sic) Viscounts etc’, and his grand entrance was the occasion of a Chaplin-esque debacle on a slippery floor (Arnold 1981, p. 117). When the weekend party dispersed, he settled down to work, attended only by the sitter’s daughter, an aged Lady’s maid, and another Lady ‘far on in consumption’. These unusual circumstances meant that Orpen was nervous when completing his work, and yet before he left Eastwell Park, he was able to report to his wife, Grace, that ‘they think Lady Gerard’s portrait is very like her, which is lucky’ (Arnold p. 118). He charged £75 for the painting.
Despite his misgivings, approval by the sitter’s friends and family signified that Orpen had intuitively understood what was required of him. Of a different era, Lady Gerard would expect, even in a work of this size, a sense of the grandeur of her social status. She was not paying for Sargent, but her portrait should, nevertheless, command the room in which it hung. The eye should first be captured by her brilliant chrome green dress, before pausing on her likeness. A parapet, swags, and the suggestion of cumulus clouds complete an ensemble that might complement a Reynolds or Gainsborough sitter, while the fall of her delicate fingers from a glorious sleeve should be worthy of Van Dyck (for example, Sir Anthony Van Dyck  Lord John Stuart and his brother Lord Bernard Stuart, c. 1638, National Gallery, London).
We are grateful to Professor Kenneth McConkey for writing this catalogue entry.