Orpen in country house auction

A self-portrait by Sir William Orpen privately owned since 1927 is included in a major Christie’s sale

AN IMPORTANT self-portrait by Irish artist Sir William Orpen, privately owned since 1927, is to be auctioned for the first time by Christie’s in England next month. The painting is among the highlights of what the fine art auctioneers said would be “the largest and most important country house sale of the year” in Britain at Cowdray Park in West Sussex.

The sale over three days, September 13th-15th, features approximately 1,200 lots from both Cowdray Park, home of Lord Cowdray and from Dunecht House, the Scottish home of his brother, the Hon Charles Pearson.

Estimates range from £50 to £500,000 (€57-€566,000) and the auction is expected to realise in the region of £5 million €5.7m).

The sale, expected to draw large crowds, includes furniture and works of art, silver, old master paintings, tapestries, arms and armour, European porcelain and glass, textiles, books and manuscripts, clocks, carpets and Chinese works of art and porcelain.

The title Viscount Cowdray was created in 1917 for the industrialist Weetman Pearson. He developed his family firm, S Pearson and Son Ltd, from a small company in Bradford into one of the most successful business empires of the 20th century. Today, Pearson PLC, which owns the Financial Times, is a global media and education company and the largest book publisher in the world.

Orpen's Self-portrait: hand and gloves resting on canewill be offered with an estimate of £150,000 to £250,000 (€170,000-€280,000). It was purchased directly from the artist by Mrs Gertrude Kinnell as a gift for her sister Annie, 1st Viscountess Cowdray, in 1927. The oil-on-canvas measures 36 by 24 inches.

Orpen (1878-1931), who was born in Stillorgan, Co Dublin, was one of the most successful and famous painters of the early 20th century. He painted numerous self-portraits including The Dead Ptarmigan(in which he depicted himself as a huntsman holding a dead game bird) which hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland.

Last month in London, Christie's sold his Portrait of Captain Marshall Roberts, Master of South Notts Foxhoundsfor £97,250. The painting had been owned by the late Tony Ryan, founder of Ryanair. The highest price ever achieved at auction for a painting by Orpen was £1.9 million, which an American collector paid at Sotheby's in 2001, for Gardenia St George with Riding Crop– a portrait of the daughter of the artist's mistress, Mrs Evelyn St George.