The Yacht Race (Sighting the Boat) by Sir William Orpen comes up at Sotheby’s Modern British Art sale in London on June 28. Orpen’s summer ritual from 1909 onwards had been to rent Arthur Bellingham’s house known as ‘The Cliffs’ overlooking the majestic sweep of Dublin Bay for the month of August. There he would be joined by his wife, Grace, and his daughters, Mary and Kit, along with other members of his family. Since the Howth holiday followed his summer term residency at the Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin friends and students sometimes joined the party. These convivial gatherings became subjects for drawings and paintings for, as his brother Richard recalled, while these ‘long, lovely, never-to-be-forgotten summer days’ were carefree. The pencil and watercolour on paper is estimated at £90,000-£130,000. A Shining Place – a Venetian painting by William John Leech – comes up at the same sale with an estimate of £50,000-£70,000.
