Irish & International Art 28 September 2015

Sir William Orpen RA RI RHA (1878-1931)

PORTRAIT OF VIVIEN HUGH SMITH (1867-1956), LATER FIRST 1st BARON BICESTER OF TUSMORE PARK, 1919

oil on canvas

signed lower right; with James Bourlet & Sons [Dublin] label on reverse

50 x 40in. (127 x 101.60cm)

Provenance: Commissioned from the artist in 1919 for £1,500;Christie’s, 17 May 2001, lot 111;Private collection

Exhibited: Royal Academy, London, 1920, no. 307, as Portrait of Vivian Hugh Smith (Presentation Portrait)

The present work is probably one of the earliest commissions Orpen carried out after his return from the Peace

Conference in Paris in 1919. An unpublished letter dated Paris July 1919 from Orpen to William Marchant of the Goupil

Gallery (Tate Gallery Archive) would suggest a date of September 1919. Orpen writes: ‘I’m going back [to London] for

three weeks early in September to paint two portraits. (I ain’t got any money).’ His need for money and claim to poverty

was understandable at this time considering he had been providing for a family household and schooling on a Major’s

pay for the previous two years or so, when he was employed in the capacity of Official War Artist.The subject of the

present portrait is Vivian Hugh Smith a descendent of the banking family, which founded Smith’s Bank at Nottingham.

He worked for the merchant banking firm of Morgan Grenfell & Co. and became a director of many important

companies. He was created a Baron in 1938. His career in the City was most notable for his role as a Director and later

as Governor of the Royal Exchange Assurance for sixty years. Although he had always loved horses, it was only late in

life, with the acquisition of Tusmore Park near Bicester that he could indulge his passion acquiring a series of successful

steeplechasers. Other distinguished artists of the day painted his portrait including Sir Herbert James Gunn, R.A. and

Sir Alfred James Munnings, P.R.A. who portrayed him in hunting pink and on horseback.We are grateful to the Orpen

Research Project for their previous research on this lot.

€10,000-€15,000 (£7350-£11030 approx. approx.)

IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART · 28 SEPTEMBER 2015