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Roderic O'Conor
BRETON GIRL
Lot 30
Result:
Not Sold
Estimate:
€30,000 - €50,000
Roderic O'Conor, 1860-1940
BRETON GIRL
Oil on canvas, 22" x 18" (56 x 50.5cm), signed and dated 1896.
Provenance: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Vente O'Conor, 7 February 1956; Sotheby's, London, 2 July 1969, no. 121; Mervyn and Pat Solomon.
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Lot 30
Roderic O'Conor
BRETON GIRL
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Lot 30
Roderic O'Conor
BRETON GIRL
Estimate:
€30,000 - €50,000
Roderic O'Conor, 1860-1940
BRETON GIRL
Oil on canvas, 22" x 18" (56 x 50.5cm), signed and dated 1896.
Provenance: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Vente O'Conor, 7 February 1956; Sotheby's, London, 2 July 1969, no. 121; Mervyn and Pat Solomon.
Exhibited: Paris, Grand Palais, De Pont-Aven aux Nabi, Retrospective 1889-1903 (Societe des Artistes Independants), 1971 (67); Musee de Pont-Aven, Roderic O'Conor 1860-1940, 1984 (17, repr.).
Literature: Richard Shone, The Post-Impressionists, Dublin 1979, (164, repro.); Jonathan Benington, Roderic O'Conor, a Biography with a Catalogue of his Work, Dublin 1992 (195, no. 46).
Further to Emile Bernard's removal to Egypt in 1893 and Paul Gauguin's final departure from France two years later, the Pont-Aven School entered a period of dispersal and retrenchment. In Roderic O'Conor's case, demonstrating loyalty to Gauguin's championing of the primitive over the civilised, his relocation to a more remote base in the Breton interior was the answer. Settling at the Hôtel Lecadre in the rural town of Rochefort-en-terre in Morbihan, far from the amenities of the railway and hostelries that catered specifically for artists, he took the opportunity to rethink his approach: landscapes gave way to street scenes and a range of indoor subjects - still lifes and figure studies - executed in a style less overtly experimental than hitherto.
In this painting of a Breton girl wearing an artisan's headdress O'Conor has chosen not to deploy the thick, gestural brushstrokes and high-keyed colours of his earlier work, opting instead for a more naturalistic approach. He positioned his young sitter against a neutral background, her face almost in full profile and tilted slightly downwards, whilst her hands have been cropped by the bottom of the canvas. A rhythmic movement up and through the otherwise static figure is, however, conveyed by the model's boldly striped dress and by the whipped contours of her shawl and bonnet above. The bright triangle of white denoting the blouse as well as the leading edge of the coiffe where it loops the hair stand out as bold highlights, drawing the eye towards the girl's head. Just behind the chinstrap her ear can be glimpsed, summarily indicated with a deft flick of the brush.
Another change from O'Conor's 1892-93 studies of Breton women is that here the painting is much more of a portrait - an identifiable individual with clearly defined features, as opposed to a peasant woman or girl represented using more abstracted forms. Indeed here the Irish painter's touchingly honest celebration of the everyday, cast in a gentle light, may owe something to Jean Simeon Chardin's depictions of servants executed 250 years earlier. In November 1892 Cuno Amiet had been impressed that O'Conor was not only a connoisseur of the new, but also "spoke a lot about the Old Masters".
Jonathan Benington, October 2022
BRETON GIRL
Oil on canvas, 22" x 18" (56 x 50.5cm), signed and dated 1896.
Provenance: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Vente O'Conor, 7 February 1956; Sotheby's, London, 2 July 1969, no. 121; Mervyn and Pat Solomon.
Exhibited: Paris, Grand Palais, De Pont-Aven aux Nabi, Retrospective 1889-1903 (Societe des Artistes Independants), 1971 (67); Musee de Pont-Aven, Roderic O'Conor 1860-1940, 1984 (17, repr.).
Literature: Richard Shone, The Post-Impressionists, Dublin 1979, (164, repro.); Jonathan Benington, Roderic O'Conor, a Biography with a Catalogue of his Work, Dublin 1992 (195, no. 46).
Further to Emile Bernard's removal to Egypt in 1893 and Paul Gauguin's final departure from France two years later, the Pont-Aven School entered a period of dispersal and retrenchment. In Roderic O'Conor's case, demonstrating loyalty to Gauguin's championing of the primitive over the civilised, his relocation to a more remote base in the Breton interior was the answer. Settling at the Hôtel Lecadre in the rural town of Rochefort-en-terre in Morbihan, far from the amenities of the railway and hostelries that catered specifically for artists, he took the opportunity to rethink his approach: landscapes gave way to street scenes and a range of indoor subjects - still lifes and figure studies - executed in a style less overtly experimental than hitherto.
In this painting of a Breton girl wearing an artisan's headdress O'Conor has chosen not to deploy the thick, gestural brushstrokes and high-keyed colours of his earlier work, opting instead for a more naturalistic approach. He positioned his young sitter against a neutral background, her face almost in full profile and tilted slightly downwards, whilst her hands have been cropped by the bottom of the canvas. A rhythmic movement up and through the otherwise static figure is, however, conveyed by the model's boldly striped dress and by the whipped contours of her shawl and bonnet above. The bright triangle of white denoting the blouse as well as the leading edge of the coiffe where it loops the hair stand out as bold highlights, drawing the eye towards the girl's head. Just behind the chinstrap her ear can be glimpsed, summarily indicated with a deft flick of the brush.
Another change from O'Conor's 1892-93 studies of Breton women is that here the painting is much more of a portrait - an identifiable individual with clearly defined features, as opposed to a peasant woman or girl represented using more abstracted forms. Indeed here the Irish painter's touchingly honest celebration of the everyday, cast in a gentle light, may owe something to Jean Simeon Chardin's depictions of servants executed 250 years earlier. In November 1892 Cuno Amiet had been impressed that O'Conor was not only a connoisseur of the new, but also "spoke a lot about the Old Masters".
Jonathan Benington, October 2022
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In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
PLEASE BID EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.
In order to allow rival bidders the opportunity to respond to a late bid the following extensions will apply:
IF A BID IS RECEIVED WITHIN THE FINAL 45 SECONDS OF THE COUNTDOWN THE CLOCK WILL RESET TO 60 SECONDS.
At any point you can leave a maximum bid, representing the highest price you are prepared to pay for a particular lot. Bidding only advances when there is competition from a rival bidder. In that case the system bids on your behalf, only up to the maximum if required. All bids are relayed to you be email, along with notification if you have been outbid.
All maximum bids are confidential and not disclosed. The system will endeavor to purchase the lot for you for the least price. Bids are subject to buyer’s premium of 25% (incl vat), with no additional charges.
In the event of a tied bid, the preference will be given to the bid submitted first. The second bidder will receive immediate notification of being outbid.
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