A Peace Conference at the Quai d'Orsay [SEP] inception
A Peace Conference at the Quai d'Orsay
A Peace Conference at the Quai d'Orsay is an oil-on-canvas painting by Irish artist William Orpen, completed in 1919. It was one the paintings commissioned from Orpen to commemorate the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The work is held by the Imperial War Museum in London.
Background.
Orpen was one of the first people chosen as a war artist by the British Ministry of Information in 1917. Orpen was also official painter at the peace conference, and was commissioned
the Quai d'Orsay when the Polish Ambassador Juliusz Łukasiewicz marched in and during a stormy interview with Bonnet demanded to know why France had not declared war yet. Later that same day, Bonnet during a phone conversation with Count Ciano made a great point of insisting that the French "démarche" of 1 September was not an ultimatum, urging that the Italians call the peace conference as soon as possible. Though both Bonnet and the Italians were serious about the conference, the proposed conference was blocked when Halifax stated that unless the Germans withdrew