Sir William Orpen, Le Chef de l ’Hotel Chatham Paris, c1921

Sir William Orpen (1878 –1931) submitted this 127 × 102.5 cm oil on canvasLe Chef de l ’Hotel Chatham Paris as his diploma work in 1921, 2 years after being elected as a Royal Academician. It remains in the collection of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Contrary to the news of the day [1] it was not bought under the Chantrey Bequest which was established to purchase the greatest works of art for the nation. While indeed selected for purchase it transpired that it did not meet the criteria because it wasn ’t painted in Britain [2], but at Orpen ’s headquarters in the Hotel Majestic in Paris [1]. The portrait subject is the hotel ’s grill-room chef Eugene Grossriether, nicknamed ‘Chester’; reportedly owing to his dislike of cheese [1]. As a frequent visitor to the grill Orpen was struck by the artistic potential of Chester ’s face and figure [1]. The chef is set against a dark background and he stands out in his double-buttoned pristine white jacket with a pleated toque jauntily poised on his head. The face, beard and still-life elements reveal incredible detail such as the reflections in the bottle and the glass. Contrary to any expectations that the bottle might contain red wine for cooking; it is a bottle of stout which Chester drank to keep cool in the kitchen [1]. Stout was not Chester ’s only tipple for Orpen commented that ‘he got more out of the picture than I did, for I gave it away while he got a good 20 Francs worth of whiskey at each sitting...
Source: Occupational Medicine - Category: Respiratory Medicine Source Type: research