View More Videos
Bidding on this item has ended.
Roderic O'Conor
LANDSCAPE WITH TREES
Lot 14
Price Realised:
€300,000
Estimate:
€150,000 - €250,000
Roderic O'Conor, 1860-1940
PAYSAGE AUX ARBRES (LANDSCAPE WITH TREES), c.1892
Oil on canvas, 12 3/4" x 16 1/4" (32.5 x 41.2cm), signed.
Provenance: Private Collection, France
Exhibited: London, Barbican Art Gallery, Roderic O'Conor 186...
Read more
Lot 14
Roderic O'Conor
LANDSCAPE WITH TREES
DVTV Click Here To View Video
Lot 14
Roderic O'Conor
LANDSCAPE WITH TREES
Estimate:
€150,000 - €250,000
Roderic O'Conor, 1860-1940
PAYSAGE AUX ARBRES (LANDSCAPE WITH TREES), c.1892
Oil on canvas, 12 3/4" x 16 1/4" (32.5 x 41.2cm), signed.
Provenance: Private Collection, France
Exhibited: London, Barbican Art Gallery, Roderic O'Conor 1860-1940, September - November 1985, no. 74; this exhibition travelled to Belfast, Dublin and Manchester, November 1985 - May 1986.
Literature: Jonathan Benington, Roderic O'Conor, a biography with a catalogue of his work, Dublin 1992, page 217, number 226.
Although Landscape with trees is not a dated work, it bears numerous thematic and stylistic similarities to paintings, drawings and prints executed by O'Conor in the early 1890s, close to the beginning of his Breton sojourn. The motif of wind-tossed trees silhouetted against the sky was one that he explored thoroughly in drawings executed in chalk and in ink, as well as in etchings. Trees also feature in his Pont-Aven landscape paintings, notably those inspired by the Bois d'Amour, a well-known beauty spot on the edge of the village. This was where Paul Serusier had painted his famous landscape, The Talisman (Musee d'Orsay, Paris), under direct instruction from Gauguin in 1888. O'Conor's bright blue trees and hedges, viewed against the light, seem to revisit the revolutionary zeal that Gauguin passed on to his young protege: 'How do you see that tree? It's green? Then choose the most beautiful green on your palette. - And this shadow? It's more like blue? Do not be afraid to paint it with the purest blue possible'.
The canvas size and range of colours used in Landscape with trees invite comparison with early Breton paintings by O'Conor, for example Still life with bottles (1892) and Red Roofs in the Tate collection, as well as Houses by a river that was acquired from the Irishman by fellow painter and printmaker Louis Roy (see Christie's, The Irish Sale, 17 May 2002, no. 62). The two latter works, likewise painted on French size 6 (Figure) canvases, mix warm and cool tints in a closely similar fashion, with strokes of lighter and darker blue and green animating both foreground and middle distance. In the present work, the yellow dots of colour visible just above the horizon hark back to the artist's earlier experiments with pointillism, as seen in The bridge at Grez and The edge of the Wood.
On balance, a date of late spring or early summer 1892 seems most likely for Landscape with trees. This fits with what he know of O'Conor's movements in that year. In March he visited the Van Gogh memorial exhibition organised by Emile Bernard at the Le Barc de Boutteville gallery in Paris. Encountering the Dutch artist's landscapes constructed from rhythmically applied complementary hues led O'Conor to rethink his approach, leading ultimately to his own very personal interpretation of the Breton scene using parallel 'stripes' of pure colour. Landscape with trees would appear to stand on the threshold of this important new breakthrough, deploying as it does a mixture of expressively handled paint, inspired by Van Gogh's depictions of olive and cypress trees, and a range of almost fauve colours revealing his alignment with the innovations of Gauguin and the Nabi. Several streaks of crimson in the foliage of the trees and in the hedge immediately to their right even seem to anticipate O'Conor's full-blown striping technique.
PAYSAGE AUX ARBRES (LANDSCAPE WITH TREES), c.1892
Oil on canvas, 12 3/4" x 16 1/4" (32.5 x 41.2cm), signed.
Provenance: Private Collection, France
Exhibited: London, Barbican Art Gallery, Roderic O'Conor 1860-1940, September - November 1985, no. 74; this exhibition travelled to Belfast, Dublin and Manchester, November 1985 - May 1986.
Literature: Jonathan Benington, Roderic O'Conor, a biography with a catalogue of his work, Dublin 1992, page 217, number 226.
Although Landscape with trees is not a dated work, it bears numerous thematic and stylistic similarities to paintings, drawings and prints executed by O'Conor in the early 1890s, close to the beginning of his Breton sojourn. The motif of wind-tossed trees silhouetted against the sky was one that he explored thoroughly in drawings executed in chalk and in ink, as well as in etchings. Trees also feature in his Pont-Aven landscape paintings, notably those inspired by the Bois d'Amour, a well-known beauty spot on the edge of the village. This was where Paul Serusier had painted his famous landscape, The Talisman (Musee d'Orsay, Paris), under direct instruction from Gauguin in 1888. O'Conor's bright blue trees and hedges, viewed against the light, seem to revisit the revolutionary zeal that Gauguin passed on to his young protege: 'How do you see that tree? It's green? Then choose the most beautiful green on your palette. - And this shadow? It's more like blue? Do not be afraid to paint it with the purest blue possible'.
The canvas size and range of colours used in Landscape with trees invite comparison with early Breton paintings by O'Conor, for example Still life with bottles (1892) and Red Roofs in the Tate collection, as well as Houses by a river that was acquired from the Irishman by fellow painter and printmaker Louis Roy (see Christie's, The Irish Sale, 17 May 2002, no. 62). The two latter works, likewise painted on French size 6 (Figure) canvases, mix warm and cool tints in a closely similar fashion, with strokes of lighter and darker blue and green animating both foreground and middle distance. In the present work, the yellow dots of colour visible just above the horizon hark back to the artist's earlier experiments with pointillism, as seen in The bridge at Grez and The edge of the Wood.
On balance, a date of late spring or early summer 1892 seems most likely for Landscape with trees. This fits with what he know of O'Conor's movements in that year. In March he visited the Van Gogh memorial exhibition organised by Emile Bernard at the Le Barc de Boutteville gallery in Paris. Encountering the Dutch artist's landscapes constructed from rhythmically applied complementary hues led O'Conor to rethink his approach, leading ultimately to his own very personal interpretation of the Breton scene using parallel 'stripes' of pure colour. Landscape with trees would appear to stand on the threshold of this important new breakthrough, deploying as it does a mixture of expressively handled paint, inspired by Van Gogh's depictions of olive and cypress trees, and a range of almost fauve colours revealing his alignment with the innovations of Gauguin and the Nabi. Several streaks of crimson in the foliage of the trees and in the hedge immediately to their right even seem to anticipate O'Conor's full-blown striping technique.
- Enquire
- View all lots by this artist
- How bidding works
Please note: You will require a deVeres account in order to bid. Please register via the website. Each lot will close numerically. If there is late bidding the time may be extended which could delay subsequent lots. The lots will start to close from 2.00pm on auction day, closing at 45 second intervals.
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.
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.
Sign-up to our auction alert
Signup for personalised Irish art recommendations, invitations to viewings and auctions, articles and more.