William Orpen Levitating

Augustus Edwin John, 1878–1961

1897 to 1900

Oil on canvas

Yale Center for British Art

A man in a suit and hat levitates in the sky, holding an umbrella, while several people seated at a table below look up in astonishment. The scene is set against a cloudy sky and a muted landscape. A man in a suit and hat levitates in the sky, holding an umbrella, while several people seated at a table below look up in astonishment. The scene is set against a cloudy sky and a muted landscape. Augustus John and William Orpen were constant companions while attending the Slade School of Art in London in the late 1890s, but their paths separated in later years as Orpen achieved fame in the 1920s for his highly sought after society portraits (an example is shown nearby). John’s satirical depiction of the fashionably dressed Orpen floating high above a tea table seated with dour, blackclad figures dates to their years at the Slade a