Roderic O'Conor (17 October 1860 – 18 March 1940) was an Irish painter who spent much of his later career in Paris and as part of the Pont-Aven movement. O'Conor's work demonstrates

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and

Post-Impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...

influence.

Early life and training

Born in Milltown, Castleplunket,

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

in Ireland, O'Conor attended the Metropolitan School and

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the Royal Irish Academy, the academy retained the word "Royal" after mo ...

early in his career. His father, Roderic Joseph O'Conor, acted as a justice of the peace and was appointed high sheriff of the county in 1863. His mother, Eleanor Mary, was brought up in a landowning family from County Meath. The family relocated to Dublin when O'Conor was still a child. He studied at

Ampleforth College Ampleforth College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding and day school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition. It opened in 1803 as a boys' school. It is near the villa ...

, and like his classmate, Richard Moynan, travelled to

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

before moving to Paris to gain further experience. While in France, he was influenced by the

Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subjec ...

Works

In 1892, O'Conor went to

Pont-Aven Pont-Aven (; in Breton) is a commune in the Finistère department in the Brittany region in Northwestern France. Demographics Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called in French. Pont-Aven absorbed the former commune of Nizon in 1954, which had ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

where he worked closely with a group of artists around the

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

, whom he befriended. His method of painting with textured strokes of contrasting colours also owed much to

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...

Relationship with Somerset Maugham

In the early twentieth century, O'Conor was one of a group of painters, writers and intellectuals who frequented the ''Chat Blanc'', a restaurant in the rue d'Odessa near the Gare Montparnasse in Paris, a group that included Gerald Kelly,

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

and the young

Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

. O'Conor "took an immediate dislike to Maugham, who later recalled that his presence at the table seemed to irritate the Irishman and he had only to venture a remark to have O'Conor attack it." Maugham had his revenge on O'Conor by using him as the basis for two fictional characters, O'Brien in '' The Magician'' and Clutton in '' Of Human Bondage''. Both portraits are unflattering: O'Brien is "a failure whose bitterness has warped his soul so that, unforgiving of the success of others, he lashes out at any artist of talent", while Clutton is "a sardonic painter who is most cheerful when he can find a victim for his sarcasm". However, it was through O'Conor that Maugham first became interested in

Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...

(Maugham travelled to Tahiti and based his novel ''The Moon and Sixpence'' on the life of Gauguin).

Personal life and legacy

In 1933, O'Conor married his partner Henrietta (Renée) Honta, who had sometimes modelled for him. The couple lived in France and Spain, until O'Conor's death at their home in France. He died in Nueil-sur-Layon, France on 18 March 1940. In March 2011, a work by O'Conor sold for £337,250 (€383,993). ''Landscape, Cassis'', an oil-on-canvas, was painted by O'Conor in the south of France in 1913 and sold at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

for significantly higher than the estimated price.

Works in collections

Auckland Art Gallery Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasures ...

, Belfast *

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

* Hugh Lane Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin *

National Gallery of Ireland The National Gallery of Ireland () houses the national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on Clare Street, Dublin, Clare Street. It ...

, Dublin * Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh * Indianapolis Museum of Art *

Hunt Museum The Hunt Museum () is a museum located in The Custom House, Limerick, the Custom House in the city of Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It holds a personal collection donated by the John Hunt (antiquarian), Hunt family, it was originall ...

, Limerick *

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

, London *

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York * Musée d’Orsay, Paris * Musée des Beaux-Arts de Pont-Aven *

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

, Sydney *

Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa (Māori language, Māori for 'Waka huia, the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the Nation ...

, Wellington

Gallery

File:OConor Yellow Landscape 1892.jpg, ''Yellow landscape'', 1892 (The Tate, London) File:Conor bretonne.jpg, ''La Jeune Bretonne'', 1895 (National Gallery, Dublin) File:Roderic_O%27Conor_-_Mixed_flowers_on_pink_cloth_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg, ''Mixed flowers on pink cloth'', (Te Papa, Wellington) File:Roderic o conor green rug.jpg, ''Nude seated on a green rug'', circa 1925 File:O_Connor_seated_woman_in_a_red_dress.jpg, ''Seated woman in a red dress'', circa 1920 File:Roderic O Connor Seated nude with red hair.jpg, ''Seated nude with red hair'', circa 1900 File:Roderic o'comor pont aven.jpg, ''Pont aven'', circa 1895 File:Roderic o conor lezaven.jpg, ''Lezaven'', circa 1894 File:"Les Korrigans sous la lune - The dance of the elves of Pont-Aven" (Moonlit landscape with tall trees) by Roderic O'Conor, ca. 1898-1900.jpg, "Les Korrigans sous la lune - The dance of the elves of Pont-Aven" (Moonlit landscape with tall trees) by Roderic O'Conor, ca. 1898-1900

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconor, Roderic 1860 births 1940 deaths 19th-century Irish painters 20th-century Irish painters Irish Impressionist painters Irish male painters People educated at Ampleforth College Artists from County Roscommon

Roderic Roderic (also spelled Ruderic, Roderik, Roderich, or Roderick; Spanish language, Spanish and , ; died 711) was the Visigoths, Visigothic king in Hispania between 710 and 711. He is well known as "the last king of the Goths". He is actually an ex ...

Pont-Aven painters 19th-century Irish male artists 20th-century Irish male artists