Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

William Orpen Work Discovered

May 10, 2010 by Marion Maneker

The Telegraph has yet another discovery of a previously unknown painting. This one is by the Irish painter William Orpen who was a war artist during the First World War. It turns out he made a copy of a painting for Lord Beaverbrook as a thank you gift:

Curators at the Imperial War Museum had told the owner, a retired writer in his 60s who does not want to be named, the painting was just a copy. Its back does bear the inscription ‘Copy by person unknown’.

But he had a nagging doubt about his picture of a radiant young woman, draped in an army overcoat, which had hung on the wall of his suburban home for years. Maas was taken by its quality and noticed that the signature – Nepro Mailliw – spelt ‘William Orpen’ backwards. He researched the painting and found a reference to the second version in a letter from Orpen to Beaverbrook.

WW1 Copy That’s Worth £250,000 (Telegraph)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Alitalia Bankruptcy Art SaleAlitalia Bankruptcy Art Sale
  • Gagosian’s Side of the Picasso FightGagosian’s Side of the Picasso Fight
  • Bitter Rivalries Make Better ArtBitter Rivalries Make Better Art
  • Can Arte Povera Break Out in Christie’s Sale Next Week?Can Arte Povera Break Out in Christie’s Sale Next Week?
  • London 19th Century Art = £15.97mLondon 19th Century Art = £15.97m
  • NY Times Offers Details On Restituted Works German Officials Returned to Nazi FamiliesNY Times Offers Details On Restituted Works German Officials Returned to Nazi Families

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Sotheby’s Offers Pop-Culture Memorabilia, from Nike to Yeezy, in New Series
  • Christie's Announces $70m Picasso Self Portrait
  • Rauschenberg’s Buffalo II Leads Mayer Collection at Christie’s
  • David Hockney's $20m Pacific Coast Highway & Santa Monica
  • Mapping a Career in the Art World
  • Rare Apple-1 Computer Available from Christie's Private Sale
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor