Comments on: The Artist as Model: Alfred Rich for William Orpen http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/23341 Feel Smart Again Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:09:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 By: Alexander http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/23341/comment-page-1#comment-146765 Alexander Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:24:00 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/23341#comment-146765 I'm thrilled that you've come across A W Rich. His story is fascinating: he attended The Slade as a mature student, rigidly sticking to watercolour because it liberated him from any other equipment and he believed that it was the most spontaneous artform with which a genuine emotional response to a scene could be recorded. (He believed photography took in too much information and did not involve the interpretation of the human mind). He was one of William Orpen’s great friends. Of the many portraits Orpen painted of Rich the best, entitled “The Sketcher”, is a large oil which is in the Canadian National Collection but not currently on display. It was painted in about 1910 and shows Rich, sketchbook and pencil in hand, in front of a stormy sky. The jokey title of the painting is a reference to a sobriquet Rich endured, many people thinking that his pictures were just “sketches” rather than finished works because of swiftness with which they were rendered and the medium they were painted in. For a long time after their deaths both artists had little attention paid to their work. Orpen has now been re-evaluated but Rich is yet to return to the spotlight. Rich’s work is still misunderstood. Although his painting can be seen as part of a long tradition of English watercolour, he is very much a modern artist seeking to capture impulsive emotion. His works can be related to those striking watercolour scenes of “Walchensee” painted by Lovis Corinth after 1911. When you realise what he was trying to achieve his pictures can be seen in a new light. Thank you very much for your article. I’m thrilled that you’ve come across A W Rich. His story is fascinating: he attended The Slade as a mature student, rigidly sticking to watercolour because it liberated him from any other equipment and he believed that it was the most spontaneous artform with which a genuine emotional response to a scene could be recorded. (He believed photography took in too much information and did not involve the interpretation of the human mind). He was one of William Orpen’s great friends. Of the many portraits Orpen painted of Rich the best, entitled “The Sketcher”, is a large oil which is in the Canadian National Collection but not currently on display. It was painted in about 1910 and shows Rich, sketchbook and pencil in hand, in front of a stormy sky. The jokey title of the painting is a reference to a sobriquet Rich endured, many people thinking that his pictures were just “sketches” rather than finished works because of swiftness with which they were rendered and the medium they were painted in.

For a long time after their deaths both artists had little attention paid to their work. Orpen has now been re-evaluated but Rich is yet to return to the spotlight.

Rich’s work is still misunderstood. Although his painting can be seen as part of a long tradition of English watercolour, he is very much a modern artist seeking to capture impulsive emotion. His works can be related to those striking watercolour scenes of “Walchensee” painted by Lovis Corinth after 1911. When you realise what he was trying to achieve his pictures can be seen in a new light.

Thank you very much for your article.

]]> By: Therese http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/23341/comment-page-1#comment-130445 Therese Sat, 07 Mar 2009 23:53:00 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/23341#comment-130445 Interesting that artists seemingly so different in their approaches to art and to life would be close friends. Rich apparently wasn't very rich, was he? Orpen's art seems to be more creative, more stimulating. Maybe an artist's level of eccentricity corresponds with his talent and success. Interesting that artists seemingly so different in their approaches to art and to life would be close friends. Rich apparently wasn’t very rich, was he? Orpen’s art seems to be more creative, more stimulating. Maybe an artist’s level of eccentricity corresponds with his talent and success.

]]>