Orpen On Tonks

Diana Orpen, known to all as “Dickie” became the artist in residence working for Plastic surgeon Rainsford Mowlem during the second world war at Hill End Hospital St Albans. Her tutor and mentor was Henry Tonks. 

Dickie was the daughter of artist, and Royal Academician, William Orpen, who had himself been Henry Tonks student at the Slade School of Fine

Art. But, he forbade his own children from creating art, telling them they needed only “one damn good painter in the family and no bloody amateurs”. Nevertheless, Dickie secretly loved drawing and when by accident her father discovered some of her work, he immediately realised her potential. Passing a selection to Tonks, his reply was “send her to the Slade on Monday”. So it was that a 15 year old “Dickie” was sent from her ordinary school to what she described as “Paradise”. 

Described by a literary friend as “Tall, gaunt, angular, long necked, small headed, long lipped with nose high bridged and vision concentrated on some lofty and distant horizon”, Tonks would prove to be a demanding teacher. Dickie takes up the story. “I was young enough to be enchanted by picking my way over the prostrate forms of my fellow students sleeping it off after a hard night drinking on the steps of the Slade at 9 am. Later on, Tonks head, which resembled a rather desiccated turtle, would twist round the Life Room door at what seemed an immense distance from the ground with the words, “where is the Orpen child?” To which I squeaked “I’m here sir”. He was enormously patient even to the extent of giving me a tremendous rocket for a drawing (on my board) just made by a member of his staff. The poor young man and I blushed with equal ferocity but said nothing.” Tonks had what we would now consider a somewhat old-fashioned view of women.  According to Dickie, “his conviction was that marriage, motherhood and Catholicism were the things that ruined female students”.