Diana Orpen's Art

Diana (Dickie) Orpen not only produced detailed illustrations of operative procedures, she was also a  telented artist in general, trained at Slade School by Henry Tonks. He taught her to focus upon anatomy as a route to perfecting drawings of the human form.

During her time at Hill End, during the second world war she could not resist a desire to produce art of a more general nature, capturing the essence of the hospital environment and its personalities. The works in this gallery, from BAPRAS’ general art Collection, demonstrate the breadth of her range, from formal pastel scenes, to anatomical studies and  caricatures and cartoons.