The Mirror – William Orpen Art Print
The Mirror – William Orpen Art Print
The Mirror by William Orpen, 1900. Held at Tate Britain, London. A woman in profile, a convex mirror reflecting the painter himself. Free worldwide shipping.
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Orpen painted The Mirror in 1900, the year he left the Slade. The model was Emily Scobel — his fiancée. She is shown in profile, seated, the shallow pictorial space arranged with the care of a Dutch interior. On the wall behind her, a convex mirror catches the room in miniature, and in it, reflected small and precise, is Orpen himself at his easel.
He borrowed the device from Van Eyck's Arnolfini Portrait, which had been hanging in the National Gallery since 1843. But Orpen made it his own — the mirror as a way of being in the painting without being the subject of it, present but hidden, watching. He used the same trick throughout his career. This is the first time.
Emily ended the engagement in 1901. Orpen married Grace Knewstub the same year. The Mirror stayed — it is one of only two Orpen works on permanent display in Britain outside the Imperial War Museum.
Available as a 40x50 cm / 16x20″ archival giclée print on heavyweight fine art paper with fade-resistant inks, built to last.
Free worldwide shipping. Delivered in 2–5 business days.
