National Library of Australia

The Great Masters by Mortimer Menpes 25 July-7 October 2002

Chapeau de paille

Mortimer Luddington Menpes (1855-1938)
Chapeau de paille between 1900 and 1909
shellac on oil on cardboard; 47.0 x 35.6 cm
Pictorial Collection S4520
after Peter Paul RUBENS (1577-1640) Prussian
Le chapeau de paille 1622-1625
oil on oak; 79.0 x 54.6 cm
Original in the National Gallery, London

Portrait of William II, Prince of Orange

Mortimer Luddington Menpes (1855-1938)
Portrait of William II, Prince of Orange between 1900 and 1909
shellac on oil on cardboard; 45.5 x 37.5 cm
Pictorial Collection S4541
after Antonis VAN DYCK (1599-1641) Belgian
Portrait of William II, Prince of Orange c.1640s
At time of cataloguing (2002) title, medium, dimensions and location of original unknown
At time of copying original was in the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia


Australian-born artist Mortimer Luddington Menpes (1855-1938) completed his art training in London in 1880. He first gained recognition as a student and follower of 'The Master', James McNeill Whistler, and later became one of the most popular and widely exhibited artists of his generation.

Menpes was a prodigious traveller and raconteur, an innovative and entrepreneurial printmaker and print publisher, a biographer, crack-shot, wrestler, prize fowl-raiser and lover of all things Japanese. In 1911 he donated 38 works to the people of Australia. Now housed at the National Library, each painting is a copy by Menpes of a work by a 'Great Master'.

For the first time in over 50 years, his Mona Lisa and copies of works by Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Bellini, Van Dyck, Rubens, Reynolds and Velasquez will be on display.

 

View NLA News article 'The Great Masters, by Mortimer Menpes' by Tim Fisher, Exhibition Curator

 

 

The Laughing Cavalier

Mortimer Luddington Menpes
(1855–1938)
The Laughing Cavalier
shellac on oil on cardboard;
48.0 x 37.5 cm
Pictorial Collection S4529
after Frans HALS (1580?–1666) Belgian
The Laughing Cavalier 1624
oil on canvas; 86.0 x 69.0 cm
Original in the Wallace Collection, London

Portrait of Mrs. Siddons

Mortimer Luddington Menpes (1855-1938)
Portrait of Mrs. Siddons between 1900 and 1909
shellac on oil on cardboard; 50.0 x 39.0 cm
Pictorial Collection S4549
after Thomas GAINSBOROUGH (1727-1788) English
Mrs Siddons 1785
oil on canvas; 126.4 x 99.7 cm
Original in the National Gallery, London

Novotel Canberra

Porter's Original Paints