William Orpen was the last of the great society painters, succeeding Sargent and becoming, in his turn, the most successful artist of his day. He was also the wealthiest, earning staggering sums each year from portrait commissions. Born in Dublin, he grew up during the Parnell era, and its tensions left an indelible impression of his uncertain roots: cultural loyalty to Ireland, political loyalty to Britain, ultimate loyalty only to himself. He was an exceptional student, first in Dublin, then at the Slade, carrying off medals and prizes, exploring in early works of great brilliance the impact of teachers and contemporaries, among them Walter Osborne, Henry Tonks, Philip Wilson Steer and Augustus John. A realist, enormously hard-working, and devoured by an interest in people, he set out during the first decade of this century to establish himself as a portrait painter. He did so with an instinctive feeling for character, as well as warmth and sentiment, 'Not the painting of a man, but the painting of a man's soul,' was how Winston Churchill described his own portrait, one of the maturity. He had a passionate nature. It led to the disruption of his marriage, though he did try, with uncertain success, to keep up the form of it for the sake of his children, whom he adored. At one point Orpen was firmly committed to a ravishingly beautiful French mistress - his 'bebe blonde' - in Paris. He had other love affairs with models. And most remarkable of all was the long and at times sc