←Menu of Pictures of George Moore

Who is William Orpen?

1. An Orpen Masterpiece
2. Study for an Orpen Masterpiece
3. Reading
4. Sitting for Sarah
5. Homage to Manet
6. Homage to Manet (alternate)
7. Study for Homage to Manet (1)
8. Study for Homage to Manet (2)
9. Study for Homage to Manet (3)
10. Study for Homage to Manet (4)
11. Study for Homage to Manet (5)
12. His Pendulous Belly
13. Le Café Royal à Londres
14. Jubilation in the Garden
15. As I was saying
16. L’homme à pied
17. From a letter
18. The Judgement
19. Terrible Moment
20. Distant Gaze
21. The New St Patrick (Mr George Moore)

An Orpen Masterpiece

George Moore full-length, seated before a window, on a chair that is half-turned to his left, head resting on raised right hand, left hand resting on his left knee. Thomas Wyatt’s portrait of Moore’s grandfather (now in the National Gallery of Ireland) hangs on the wall behind him. Painted in Moore’s home at 4 Upper Ely Place, Dublin.

George’s girlfriend Honor Woulfe described the making and hanging of this picture in her memoir, “George Moore and the Amenities, (published in English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920, Volume 35, Number 4, 1992, page 459).

Moore commissioned this picture from the artist at the beginning of their acquaintance and bequeathed it to Lady Cunard. “lt is an Orpen masterpiece; one of the greatest of all his portraits,” according to Bruce Arnold.

Published in Bruce Arnold, Orpen, Mirror to an Age (1981); and in Adrian Frazier, George Moore, 1852-1933 (2000). Formerly owned by Lady Diana Cooper and still with her family.

---

Study for an Orpen Masterpiece

Signed in graphite, lower left: ORPEN. Inscribed in graphite, lower left corner: 33; and at left edge: Study for portrait of George Moore 14 14 0. Full length seated on a chair that is half-turned to his left, his head resting on his raised right hand, his left hand resting on his crossed left knee.

Owned by Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

---

Reading

George Moore half-lengthin profile turned to his left , seated, holding book in his left hand and his waistcoat with his right hand. 

Published in Bruce Arnold, Orpen, Mirror to an Age (1981). Owned by the National Portrait Gallery, Primary Collection, London, England.

---

Sitting for Sarah

Printed and crossed out Royal Societies Club, St. James’s Street, S.W. Inscribed 8 Bolton Gardens South, S.W., June 1907. My dear Moore, I hear I am out of it and that the portrait of your living life gives you complete satisfaction. I’m sorry I did not see more of you when I was over in Dublin. I called a couple of times but did not find you in. Remember me to Sir Thornley [Stoker] when you see him. Yours, William Orpen. George Moore full-length in profile seated on a chair turned to his left, thumbs in his waistcoat, looking at Sarah Cecilia Harrison seated with paintbrush in her right hand and palette on her left arm, staring at Moore; a portrait of Moore is emerging on a canvas mounted on her easel. Inscribed in pencil on verso of original mount: George Moore being painted by Sir Huge Lane’s cousin Miss Sarah Harrison.

Owned by the National Library of Ireland.

---

Homage to Manet

George Moore full-length seated at left, in profile turned to his left, holds an open newspaper with both hands, looks across a table and tea service at a group of standing and seated men: Hugh Lane, D.S. MacColl, Walter Sickert, Philip Wilson Steer, and Henry Tonks. A cast of a classical female figure is at the left border over Moore’s shoulder. Édouard Manet’s portrait of Eva Gonzales hangs on the wall in the upper center background.

Owned by the Manchester Art Gallery, England.

---

Homage to Manet (alternate)

George Moore full-length seated at left, in profile turned to his left, holding an open newspaper with both hands, looking across a table and tea service at a group of one standing and three seated men: Hugh Lane, D.S. MacColl, Philip Wilson Steer, Henry Tonks. Édouard Manet’s portrait of Eva Gonzales hangs on the wall In the upper center background.

The Manchester Art Gallery wrote in email: According to Kenneth McConkey in “Edwardian Portraits – Image of an Age of Opulence”, 1987: “At a later stage, Sickert was introduced to substitute for Sargent, possibly after the work had been exhibited at the New English Art Club in 1909.  Tonks, originally seated in a tub chair, was repositioned upon the Edwardian carver which he now occupies, and Steer’s figure was completely repainted in a more central position.  Finally, a white tablecloth was place on the table.  These amendments taken as the culmination of a long series of studies declare Homage to Manet to be one of the most carefully articulated of Orpen’s portrait groups. The illustration in the Art Journal of 1909, shows the painting as it was before these amendments.  The amendments were done prior to the gallery acquiring the painting in 1910.  He also changed the sculpture on the left replacing a mother and child group with figure of Venus. The book “Orpen: Mirror to an Age” by Bruce Arnold, 1981, shows the penultimate and final versions side by side on p 231.

Published in Frank Rinder, “William Orpen, R.H.A.” in the Art Journal (London, January 1909). Present whereabouts unknown.

---

Study for Homage to Manet (1)

Early sketch by Orpen for “Homage to Manet” found in a book originally belonging to Sir Hugh Lane (who figures in the picture). Eight indistinct figures seated and standing around a table. Outline of Édouard Manet’s portrait of Eva Gonzales hangs on the wall in the upper center background.

Owned by the Manchester Art Gallery, England.

---

Study for Homage to Manet (2)

Signed: Orpen 1906. George Moore in alternative full-length poses: 

• Standing at the left border of the picture, left elbow raised, head turned to his left looking up at the picture on the wall.
• Sitting at left, his right hand on his right knee, his left hand holding a wine glass on the table.  
• Seated on a sofa behind the table, his right arm resting on the sofa back, his legs crossed.
• Holding his hat and leaning over the back of a chair on the right side of the picture.

The figure second from right is not Moore and may be William Orpen or Hugh Lane. Outline of Édouard Manet’s portrait of Eva Gonzales hangs on the wall in the upper center background.

I found this picture at the Fine Art Society, London, in the early 1980s; present whereabouts unknown.

---

Study for Homage to Manet (3)

George Moore full-length seated at left, in profile turned to his left, holding an open newspaper with both hands, looking across a table and tea service at a group of three indistinct men standing and one seated. An arm chair draped with wardrobe items is in the bottom right foreground of the picture. Édouard Manet’s portrait of Eva Gonzales hangs on the wall in the upper center background.

Owned by the Manchester Art Gallery, England.

---

Study for Homage to Manet (4)

George Moore full-length seated at left, in profile turned to his left, holding an open newspaper with both hands, looking across a table and tea service at a group of three standing and one seated indistinct men. An open artist’s portfolio is on the floor in the bottom right foreground of the picture. Édouard Manet’s portrait of Eva Gonzales hangs on the wall In the upper center background.

Owned by the Manchester Art Gallery, England.

---

Study for Homage to Manet (5)

Inscribed: Some Men and a Picture, signed and dated by the artist in the lower left corner.

Published in Kenneth McConkey, Memory and Desire (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2002, page 218), where the genesis of “Homage to Manet” is discussed.

Private collection.

---

His Pendulous Belly

Captioned ”Poor Edward with his pendulous Belly hanging between his two fat legs.” = and opposite = George Moore half-length in profile turned to his right, with a pendulous belly, seated in a railway carriage.

The caption is a paraphrase of Moore’s description of Edward Martyn as the two friends traveled by rail to Bayreuth. See Moore’s Hail and Farewell, Ave, Chapter 5.

Published in Catalogue 128, Autumn 1952, Elkin Mathews Ltd., London. Not found in the archives of Elkin Mathews at Indiana University. Present whereabouts unknown.

---

Le Café Royal à Londres

Signed Orpen 1912. George Moore three-quarter length in profile turned to his left, at the lower right border of the picture, his right hand holding his waistcoat. Other figures include Oliver Gogarty, Nina Hamnett, Augustus John, William Nicholson, William Orpen, James Pryde, Alfred Rich and a waiter serving a beverage.

Provenance and exhibition history on the owner’s page. Owned by the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France.

---

Jubilation in the Garden

Captioned Jubilation in the Garden. George Moore three-quarter length in profile turned to his right on the right side of the picture, left hand holding his waistcoat, coat draped over his left arm, in a walled garden that Moore rented opposite his house at 4 Upper Ely Place, Dublin.

Moore’s “Jubilation in the Garden” appeared in the English Review (August 1912).

Owned by the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, New York Public Library, USA.

---

As I was saying

Signed: Orpen. George Moore half-length, hands folded, leaning on his right elbow, as if conversing with a person to his right.

Owned by the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection, University of Delaware Library, Newark, USA.

---

L’homme à pied

George Moore full-length, a stick in his right hand behind his back, a hat in his left hand at his side, his face full of surprise. A second head, turned slightly to his right, is in the upper left comer of the picture.

Owned by the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.

---

From a letter

Captioned from a letter by biographer Bruce Arnold. George Moore full-length half-turned to his right, arms hanging at his sides.

Published in Bruce Arnold, Orpen. Mirror to an Age (1981). Present whereabouts unknown.

---

The Judgement

Inscribed The Judgement. A Monsieur Tilly de son ami William Orpen. A figure that resembles George Moore is in the lower left corner of the picture, in profile turned to his left, seated on a log beside a path, a hat in his lap, his right arm extended with an apple in his hand, looking up at three scantily dressed older men standing in the path.

I found Orpen’s The Judgement (and a related picture named The Temptation) on MutualArt. Present whereabouts unknown.

---

Terrible Moment

Illustrated holograph letter on printed stationery 9, South Bolton Gardens, S.W. Inscribed Tuesday. A terrible moment took place in my life last night.  Lane had been dining with me (notice the me) and I went back to his place with him about 11 and who should walk in but Tonks and Moore. George Moore full-length in profile turned to his right, dressed in top hat, astrakhan coat and holding a stick; his right arm outstretched, clasping the hand of Orpen who looks sheepishly down and to his right.

Owned by the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.

---

Distant Gaze

Signed by the printer 1906  George Moore. ‘W.O.’ Half-length half-turned to his right, head turned to his left and eyes looking upward, seated with hand(s) in his lap. A slanted rectangular shape (a picture?) is visible behind his hands at the lower left border.

I found a record of this picture on MutualArt. A different pull is owned by Kenneth & Annette McConkey. Professor McConkey believes that all of the pulls are posthumous.

---

The New St Patrick (Mr George Moore)

Kenneth McConkey (2024-09-16): “I came across a reference to a drawing I could not recall, or may not have seen. It is Leicester Galleries, London,  Drawings by the Late William Orpen KCB, RA, December 1931, ‘The New St Patrick (Mr George Moore)’.

This entry is a placeholder until the drawing comes to light or more information about it is discovered.