Tenor's portrait won't go for a song
A PORTRAIT of renowned Irish tenor John McCormack is expected to fetch as much as €640, 000 at auction next month.
The 41 by 34 inch canvas painted by Sir William Orpen in 1923 is the star lot at an Irish and sporting art sale in London on May 8. The piece has been passed down the generations from the sitter.
Throughout the 1920s, portraiture was Orpen's "golden treadmill".
His income from this source rose to a staggering £54,729 in 1929 -- worth nearly €2.8m in today's values.
McCormack was born in Athlone in 1884 and his exceptional talent was recognised worldwide. He was the star of Dame Nellie Melba's Grand Opera Season in 1911 but in 1923 a severe streptococcal infection forced him to give up opera for a concert career.
In 1928, he received the title of Papal Count from Pope Pius XI in recognition of his work for Catholic charities. He died in 1945.
- John Vincent
