Roderic O'Conor
has been called, variously, a 'little known member of
the Pont-Aven school', and 'Irish Expressionist', and a 'Fauve', a 'master
of color', and a 'painter in stripes', even an 'Irish-American'. O'Conor
spent longer in France than any other Irish painter, and is one of the most
interesting of Irish artists there as he became completely integrated with
French painters. Born in 1860 at Milton in County Roscommon, he entered
the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin in 1879. O'Conor's early training
followed the recognized academic system, both at the Metropolitan School
and at the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) where he studied for one year.
A fellow classmates included Moynan. Like
many Irish students, O'Conor moved from Dublin to Antwerp and then to Paris,
where he became an 'eleve de M Carolus-Duran.' He began to paint landscapes
in bold, 'impressionistic' manner, some which are close to Pissarro, and others reminiscent of Sisley.
In some of his 1890's paintings he anticipated tendencies such as Fauvism
and Expressionism, which later became movements or styles.
Unlike his Irish contemporaries, he belongs to the sunny 'Post-Impressionist'
world of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In Irish art
he is unique, as a great colorists. His paintings are characterized by his
combinations of reds and greens, and all the various shades of red, (pinks
and lilacs, oranges and maroons, and so on). His "stripe' technique
gave his work an identifiable stamp in the 1890's, but overall it is this
use of hot colors and color combinations, in grounds and impastoes, that
expresses his powerful yet self-doubting temperament, and gives his work
its recognizable individuality.
| Field of Corn, Pont Aven
1892 |
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O'Conor  arrived at the tiny Breton village of Pont
Aven in 1892. Since the 1860's artists had succumbed to the magical and
picturesque charm of this still incredibly pretty village, attracted by
the somewhat exotic wildness of its primitive environment. O'Conor explored
the Breton subject in a more expressive way than earlier Irish artists who
had worked in Brittany. His figure paintings from this period are overtly
Breton in character, his subjects often wearing typical Breton dress, and
he captures something of the haughty dignity of the primitive peasant nature. |
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Breton Girl, c.
1906 |
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The Breton girl, with her bold stare and blunt features, seems to
be the same model as the girl in the canvas which the artist presented to
the Municipal Gallery in Dublin in 1906. There, her pose is frontal and
massive, and she stares at us with blunt, almost expressionless gaze. Here
her head is slightly tilted to one side and raised, but she looks at us
with similar candor or suspicion. In both portraits O'Conor contrasts complementary
reds and greens in long stripes running down the girl's check and neck,
in her hair and white bonnet and heightened to Expressionist pitch in the
background, making use of the color theories as the Divisionists, and the
emotional hues of van Gogh.
But O'Conor's 'Modernism' belies the sound academic drawing and modeling
of the face, the skillful observation of reflected light and shadow in the
girl's chin and neck, and the 'Dutch' whiteness of the broad collar. |
| Breton Girl, c. 1903 |
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The Breton woman was a subject much explored by artists in
the second half of the nineteenth century, offering a primitive directness
unattainable in the big city. The traditional clothing provided interesting
possibilities of contrasts and patterning. In this statuesque image, O'Conor
captures a sadness that is hypnotic to the viewer. |
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| Jeune Bretonne |
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Portrait de Bretonne, 1887 |
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Le Vieux Marin, 1891 |
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The Farm at Lezaven,
Finistere, 1894 |
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The farm at  Lezaven had served as an artists' studio
for some years before 1894 when O'Conor painted it. O'Conor probably worked
in this studio but his landscapes were more likely painted out of doors,
using nature as a vehicle for exploring color. Strident and very expressive
strokes of the brush, combined with vibrant contrasting colors, reveal the
influence of van Gogh. The color combinations of reds and greens, pinks,
violets and maroons, are increasingly characteristic of O'Conor's paintings.
The brushstrokes are smaller and thinner. Here O'Conor captures the rich
profusion, rather than the burning intensity of summer. Through the trees
we glimpse the sunlit farmhouse and glowing sky. But there is also a sense
of pattern, in the uprights of trees and the horizontal layers of flowers
and fields, areas of light and shadow, and in the overall surface texture
of brushstrokes. These changes may have come about through O'Conor's contact
with Gauguin who had a studio at Lezaven at the time. |
| Between the Cliffs,
Aberystwyth, c.1885 |
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Nothing is known of O'Conor's visiting Wales, but this painting is of
interest for its vigorous technique, and because it reveals his early approach
to landscape imagery. |
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Girl Reading, c
1910 |
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The interior of  O'Conor's studio in Paris was full
of still-life objects. On one occasion he painted, in a riot of color, a
girl immersed in a book, totally oblivious to her surroundings. This could
hardly be described as a portrait; O'Conor's technique is loose and is not
interested in details. |
| Le Drap Vert |
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After his last trip to Brittany in 1904, O'Conor remained in Paris for the following eight
years. A brief reconnaissance trip to the Bay of Cassis is recorded late
in 1912 and this experience had an immediate effect upon his work. Almost
in anticipation of the glowing hues which he would encounter on his second,
longer, visit in the summer of 1913, O'Conor's studio-pieces took on an
intensity of color and a weight of impasto which conveys the full richness
of his mature work. Residual notes of complementary color, reflections of
green in the flesh tints and the dappled green and mauve backdrop serve
to remind us that this is the work of one of the original Post-Impressionists
who, through the experience of Fauvism and Intimisme, had forged a personal
style. Comparisons between Le Drap Vert and the early Fauve nudes of Matisse
and Marquet are apposite. [From Pyms Gallery] |
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Reclining Nude Before
a Mirror, c 1909 |
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 When O'Conor left Brittany and moved
back to Paris, his subject matter also changed. He turned from landscapes
to interiors and nudes, still lifes and flower pieces. The form of the girl,
viewed from behind, is a harmony of soft reds, pinks and violets, is gently
modeled under dim studio light and is reflected in a mirror (perhaps a tribute
to the Spanish painter Velasquez's
"Venus at her Mirror" (also called "Rokeby Venus"
(shown on the right). |
Other Nudes By O'Conor
| La Femme Au Drap Rouge, 1916 |
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Nu Allonge au Collier de Perles Rouges |
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Reclining Nude on a Chaise Lounge,
1915 |
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| Nu Allonge, 1924 |
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Reclining Nude, 1910 |
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Seated Nude, Half Length, 1923 |
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| Boulevard Raspail, 1907 |
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 An "Expressionist' night scene, painted in 1907 after O'Conor
returned to live in Paris. Montparnasse was one of the artists' quarters
in Paris and it was here that O'Conor had his studio, not far from the Boulevard
Raspail. Cityscapes and night scenes are unusual in his work and have an
ominous, uneasy note not present in his landscapes. He still uses the thick
stripy brush strokes of his Breton period. The night blue of the sky is
striking, but the other colors are more murky. The muddy colors, the cranes
and derelict buildings, the sad yellow street lights, and the dark figures,
give a feeling of loneliness and urban desolation. The silhouetted couple
on the waste ground could be reminiscent of Munch. |
Still-Life Paintings
| Still Life, 1924 |
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O'Conor was popular with several art critics because he had first-hand
information of painting before the turn of the century and was 'au fait'
with developments that were taking place in Paris at the time. This work
shows an awareness of the classical revival in the 1920s. |
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Geraniums |
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 It is his still-life paintings that O'Conor appears
at his most wonderfully varied. Using a great range of objects, such as
flowers and pottery, fruit and vegetables. In varying combinations, O'Conor
explores a number of different influences, from Manet, to Cezanne, to Matisse. His parse flower paintings have a gestural
quality which reveal O'Conor at his most passionate. There are also small,
carefully orchestrated compositions, with meticulous attention to texture.
O'Conor makes such use of a play of light in his still-life work, often
setting his objects against the light;this leads to less immediate clarity
and therefore a greater degree of interest. |
| Iris, 1913 |
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In the south of France, in Cassis, O'Conor's strident early technique softened
under the influence of the fauve and
nabis painters. His still-life imagery
always concerns itself with compositional arrangement, and in this work
Japanese elements, long popular in France, are still visible. Nonetheless
this image has a passionate intensity rarely seen in O'Conor's work. |
| Still Life With Peppers And Peas |
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Still Life With Apples On A White Cloth |
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Stilll Life With Apples, Bottles,
and Jug, 1904 |
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| Still Life With Flowers In A Vase, 1913 |
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Still Life With A Compotier of Fruit, 1926 |
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Other Paintings by Roderic O'Conor
Red Rocks Near Point-Aven
1898 |
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Torremolinos
1935 |
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Maree Montante
1898 |
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| A Quiet Read, 1915 |
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Village Brittany, 1897 |
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The Rushing Stream |
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| Paysage, 1912 |
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Paysage Ensoleill, 1897 |
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Le Barrage a Montigny, 1902 |
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References:
- "The Irish Impressionists, Irish Artists
in France and Belgium 1850-1914". Julian Campbell. National Gallery
of Ireland. 1984
- "Irish Painting". Brian P. Kennedy.
Town House, Dublin. 1993.
- "O'Conor, Lives of Irish Artists".
Paula Murphy, 1992.
When O'Conor
