Le Chef de l'Hôtel Chatham – William Orpen Print

Le Chef de l'Hotel Chatham (1921) – William Orpen

In 1921, Orpen painted the second chef at the Hotel Chatham in Paris. Not a nobleman, not a politician, not a patron — a working chef, said to be Eugene Grossrieter, known as Chester, standing with his hands on his hips in an immaculate white jacket and toque.

It is one of the great portraits of his career, and one of the most deliberate statements he ever made. Orpen had spent years painting the wealthy and the powerful. Here he gave the same scale, the same technical ambition, the same unflinching attention to a man whose job was to cook. The bottle of stout on the table — the chef's preferred drink to keep cool in the kitchen — is rendered with the same care as the still-life passages in a Dutch master.

It was painted in Paris, where Orpen was living following the Peace Conference. The Royal Academy selected it under the Chantrey Bequest but ultimately deemed it ineligible — it had not been painted in Britain. Orpen instead presented it to the Royal Academy, where it hangs today.

Sir William Orpen (1878-1931), born in Stillorgan, Co Dublin, trained at the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin and the Slade School in London, becoming one of the most successful portrait painters of his generation. His work hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland.

Sizes & Format

• 40 × 50 cm / 16 × 20″
• Available framed (black, white, wood) or unframed

Print & Frame Details

Archival matte paper, 250gsm (110lb), acid-free and FSC-certified — off-white, uncoated. Framed prints: solid oak or ash wood frame, 20mm thick, with shatterproof protective glazing. Ready to hang, hanging kit included. Unframed prints up to A4 ship flat; larger sizes ship rolled in a protective tube.

Free Worldwide Shipping

Framed prints are packed with protective corners and wrap, boxed with reinforced edges, and braced with internal supports for extra rigidity (max 3 frames per package). Every order ships free, made to order and delivered from the hub closest to you: Ireland 3–7 business days · UK 4–8 · USA 5–10 · Canada 6–12 · Australia 7–14.