Orlando Norie (1832–1901), artist of military subjects, was perhaps the most prolific painter of the British army in the 19th century along with

Richard Simkin Richard Simkin (1850–1926) was a British artist and illustrator of military uniforms. Biography Born in Herne Bay, Kent, on 5 November 1850, the son of a commercial traveller, also named Richard. He spent much of his time at Aldershot, Hampshir ...

. It has been estimated that Norie alone painted well over 5,000 pictures. Although his family were of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

descent, they had moved to the continent, and Orlando was born in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

on 15 January 1832. He spent most of his working life in

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Rudolf Ackermann Rudolph Ackermann (20 April 1764 in Schneeberg, Electorate of Saxony – 30 March 1834 in Finchley, London) was an Anglo-German bookseller, inventor, lithographer, publisher and businessman. Biography He attended the Latin school in Stollberg ...

. His work was first recognised in the autumn of 1854 when his print of the

Battle of the Alma The Battle of the Alma (short for Battle of the Alma River) was a battle in the Crimean War between an allied expeditionary force (made up of French, British, and Ottoman forces) and Russian forces defending the Crimean Peninsula on 20Septemb ...

was advertised. This was followed by prints of the

Battle of Inkerman The Battle of Inkerman was fought during the Crimean War on 5 November 1854 between the allied armies of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain and Second French Empire, France against the Imperial Russian Empire, Russian Army. Th ...

and the

Battle of Balaclava The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), an Allied attempt to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russian Empire, Russia's principal naval base on the Bl ...

, all for Ackermann's. This company's Eclipse Sporting and Military Gallery served as an outlet for many of the artist's watercolors. Norie was viewed as the natural successor to

Henry Martens Henry Martens (born 1790, London; d. 1868, London) was an English military illustrator and artist. He worked mainly in water-color although a few oil paintings do exist. He was the eldest of three sons of Christoph Heinrich (''anglice'' Christop ...

, and Ackermann's were so pleased with his work that they occasionally profiled him in exhibitions, one of which was staged in 1873 to showcase his pictures of the recent Autumn Manoeuvres held in September and October 1871 around

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

and the

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

heaths. A watercolour painting depicting the

Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro In the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro (3–5 May 1811), the British–Portuguese Army under Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal André Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida. A bloody stalema ...

5 May 1811, by Orlando Norie (1832–1901) is in the collection of the

Royal Military College of Canada '') , established = 1876 , type = Military academy , chancellor = Anita Anand ('' la, ex officio, label=none'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Harry Kowal , head_label ...

Kamille Parkinson, PhD 'An Impressive Art Collection at RMCC' (Kingston, E-veritas, 25 June 2012 His grave is in the old cemetery of Dunkirk adjacent to the Commonwealth War cemetery. Today, many of his pictures can be seen in British regimental museums and clubs.

References

* Harrington, Peter, and Michel Tomasek. (2003). ''Queen Victoria's Army in Color: The British Military Paintings of Orlando Norie.'' Atglen, PA: Schiffer. . * Harris, R.G., "Orlando Norie, Military Artist," ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'', Vol. 50, 1972, pp. 127–130 and 193–199, and Vol. 51, 1973, pp. 19–26.

External links

*
Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library
over 200 original water-colors by Norie; prints {{DEFAULTSORT:Norie, Orlando 1832 births 1901 deaths 19th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters British war artists Military art 19th-century Scottish male artists