Sotheby's staging exhibition of Irish artworks in Dublin

KOLKATA: Sotheby's is staging in Dublin an exhibition of Irish artworks from its upcoming auction of British and Irish Art. The exhibition will take place from Thursday 8 May to Sunday 11, 2014. Headlining the group is a stunning portrait by William Orpen and a selection of works by Ireland's leading artists, including Paul Henry, Louis le Brocquy, William Scott, John Lavery and Jack Butler Yeats. The 33 lots, estimated to bring in the region of £985,000 (€1.15 million), will be offered for sale at Sotheby's in London on 22 May 2014.

William Orpen's Portrait of Mrs Oscar Lewisohn, formerly Miss Edna May, is a compelling study of personality, temperament, demeanour and style, painted in 1915. The picture presents one of the stars of the Edwardian stage whose performance in The Belle of New York at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London elevated her to immediate stardom.

Born in Syracuse, New York, Edna May was widely acclaimed for her beauty and following her divorce from her first husband, she was courted by Indian royalty, before finally marrying the dashing Oscar Lewisohn, a New York banker, in 1907, after which time she retired from the stage.

It was this radiant performer who appeared at Orpen's studio. Orpen's sitter is strikingly posed on a dramatic chequerboard floor against a black background; the artist reserved such occasions for some of his most distinguished portraits. The artist's brio - his crisp and confident handling that emphasises the silhouette - does not detract from the psychological depth he achieves in his picture of the charismatic and original 'belle of New York' (estimate £120,000-180,000/€146,000-218,000).