William Orpen was an Irish painter, chiefly famous as one of the leading fashionable portraitists of his day. Orpen was a child prodigy and from age twelve studied at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (DMSA) (1891–7), where his precocious talent was recognised and later he had a brilliant student career at the Slade School in London.

He worked mainly in London but he kept up links with his native Ireland, teaching part-time at the Metropolitan School in Dublin, 1902–14. His style had much in common with that of his friend Augustus John, being vigorous and painterly. He was at his best when he was away from his standard boardroom and drawing-room fare, and his numerous self-portraits are often particularly engaging, as he pokes fun at himself in character roles.
Apart from portraits, Orpen also painted genre subjects, landscapes, interiors, nudes, and allegories, and he did memorable work as an Official War Artist in France. He also attended the 1919 Peace Conference in Paris and painted a large group portrait showing the Signing of the Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, 28 June, 1919 (Imperial War Mus., London).