Sir William Orpen, R.H.A., R.A. (Dublin 1878-1931 London)

Orpen painted Captain Marshall Roberts. in 1926 at a time when physically and mentally he was burnt out and his life revolved around the racecourse, the bar, and the club. To fund this he took on more and more of the smart portrait commissions for which his style was eminently suited. Many of these are somewhat automatic, though technically brilliant and impressive. In the same year he painted the Premier of Canada, though to him it was just another commission.

In this portrait Orpen shows Captain Roberts standing ready for a day's hunting wearing his pink coat and clutching his riding crop and kid gloves in his strong hands. The sitter looks directly at the artist, his eyes shaded by the peak of his riding hat looking pensive as though in deep thought - like the artist he too had experienced the horrors of the Great War.