Orlando Norie

The 9th Lancers under the command of Lieut. Col. C.A. Bushman on the march to Kandahar

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Orlando Norie (1832-1901), artist of military subjects, perhaps the most prolific painter of the British army in the 19th century along with Richard Simkin. It has been estimated that Norie alone painted well over 5,000 pictures. Although his family were of Scottish descent, they had moved to the continent, and Orlando was born in Bruges, Belgium on January 15, 1832. He spent most of his working life in Dunkirk where he painted many scenes, primarily in watercolor by the firm of Rudolf Ackermann.

His work was first recognised in the autumn of 1854 when his print of the Battle of the Alma was advertised. This was followed by prints of the Battle of Inkerman and the Battle of Balaclava, 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, 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 and the Surrey heaths.

His grave is in the old cemetery of the town 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. ISBN 0764317768.
• 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

Persondata
Name	Norie, Orlando
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1832
Place of birth
Date of death	1901
Place of death