The Mirror 1900

William Orpen painted ‘The Mirror’ using traditional oil paints, likely applying them in layers to achieve its realistic effect. Oil paint allowed Orpen to blend colors and create subtle variations in tone, crucial for capturing the nuances of light and shadow. Look closely at the mirror in the painting. It’s not just a compositional element, but a portal into another space, another world. Mirrors are a very old technology, dating back thousands of years, and they have always been associated with beauty, vanity, and self-reflection. In this painting, the mirror is a symbol of the female gaze, and the way in which women have historically been seen as objects of beauty and desire. Consider how the application of paint mimics the act of crafting a reflection, layer upon layer. Orpen invites us to look beyond the surface, challenging conventional distinctions between the artist's studio and the spaces women occupy, blurring the lines between the fine arts and the craft of everyday life.