- William Orpen, ‘Portrait of George C. Beresford’, c. 1900. 135 x 76.8 cm. National Gallery of Victoria, Felton Bequest 1928.
Dr Vivien Gaston: ‘Double Identity: William Orpen’s portrait of George C. Beresford (c. 1900) in the National Gallery of Victoria.’
Thursday 30 April 2015, 6:45pm.
University of Melbourne, Baillieu Library, Dulcie Hollyock Room.
Orpen’s portrait is the major depiction of George C. Beresford, an important photographer working in London from 1902 to 1932. Like Orpen, who was a friend and fellow-student at the Slade, Beresford’s background was Irish and, again like Orpen, he had a complex public persona and relationship with the past. This paper will unravel the portrait’s place in Orpen’s oeuvre and the story of its arrival in Australia, including the reasons for its acquisition by the NGV. It will reveal and reassess the identity, reputation, cultural interests and artistic achievement of its subject, the little recognized George Charles Beresford.
Melbourne Portrait Group 