Roderic O'Conor
1860-1940Reclining Nude before a Mirror II, 1909
Signed and dated lower right 'R. O'CONOR/'09'; stamped with artist's studio mark verso 'atelier/O'CONOR'
Oil on board
20 5/8 x 29 1/2 in, 52.3 x 75 cm
Roderic O’Conor is one of the most famous Irish painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and an important member of the Pont-Aven colony that surrounded Paul Gauguin...
Roderic O’Conor is one of the most famous Irish painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and an important member of the Pont-Aven colony that surrounded Paul Gauguin in Brittany. Having trained at the Dublin School of Art, O’Conor went on to study at the Academie Royale des Beaux Arts in Antwerp before travelling to Paris and immersing himself in the new avant-garde school of painting. It was O’Conor’s interest in Impressionist landscapes by Pissarro and Sisley that first inspired him to travel to Brittany on the wild northern coast of France in 1892, where he worked side by side with Gauguin.
In 1904 O’Conor returned to Paris and established his studio in Montparnasse, where he would remain for eight years during the decisive period before the outbreak of World War I. Over this time, O’Conor forged a unique style of painting reflecting his close relationship with Gauguin in his vibrant tones of thick impasto and demonstrating his interest and new-found friendship with the Intimist artists Bonnard and Vuillard. Inspired by their domestic interiors, O’Conor abandoned landscapes and began to tackle subjects including still-lifes and nudes and ‘Reclining Nude before a Mirror II’ (1909) is characteristic of this pivotal moment in O’Conor’s career. The preparatory study for this work is in the collection of Dublin’s National Gallery of Ireland.
The present painting is a daring reimagining of Diego Velázquez’s iconic Rokeby Venus in London’s National Gallery. This Spanish masterpiece was purchased by the Art Fund in 1906 and bestowed to the gallery under a cloud of fierce opposition. By paying homage to the painting in 'Reclining Nude before a Mirror II' O’Conor expresses his support of the acquisition. However, in contrast to the original, O’Conor’s figure appears not as a goddess of love, but a sensual contemporary woman reversed and illuminated by the light of two large studio windows reflected in a mirror. Velázquez’s mischievous Cupid is also replaced by the statuette of a Hindu goddess. Despite their differences, both paintings share a rich sensuality through the curves of the female figure and swathes of luscious material.
O’Conor’s international reputation has soared over recent decades with major exhibitions at the Ulster Museum, Belfast (1985-86) and Barbican Art Gallery, London (1985) in which the present painting was displayed. His work can now be found in public collections around the world including Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh; Ulster Museum, Belfast; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis; Tate Britain, London; Museum of Modern Art, New York and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Pont-Aven, Pont-Aven.
In 1904 O’Conor returned to Paris and established his studio in Montparnasse, where he would remain for eight years during the decisive period before the outbreak of World War I. Over this time, O’Conor forged a unique style of painting reflecting his close relationship with Gauguin in his vibrant tones of thick impasto and demonstrating his interest and new-found friendship with the Intimist artists Bonnard and Vuillard. Inspired by their domestic interiors, O’Conor abandoned landscapes and began to tackle subjects including still-lifes and nudes and ‘Reclining Nude before a Mirror II’ (1909) is characteristic of this pivotal moment in O’Conor’s career. The preparatory study for this work is in the collection of Dublin’s National Gallery of Ireland.
The present painting is a daring reimagining of Diego Velázquez’s iconic Rokeby Venus in London’s National Gallery. This Spanish masterpiece was purchased by the Art Fund in 1906 and bestowed to the gallery under a cloud of fierce opposition. By paying homage to the painting in 'Reclining Nude before a Mirror II' O’Conor expresses his support of the acquisition. However, in contrast to the original, O’Conor’s figure appears not as a goddess of love, but a sensual contemporary woman reversed and illuminated by the light of two large studio windows reflected in a mirror. Velázquez’s mischievous Cupid is also replaced by the statuette of a Hindu goddess. Despite their differences, both paintings share a rich sensuality through the curves of the female figure and swathes of luscious material.
O’Conor’s international reputation has soared over recent decades with major exhibitions at the Ulster Museum, Belfast (1985-86) and Barbican Art Gallery, London (1985) in which the present painting was displayed. His work can now be found in public collections around the world including Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh; Ulster Museum, Belfast; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis; Tate Britain, London; Museum of Modern Art, New York and Musée des Beaux-Arts de Pont-Aven, Pont-Aven.
Provenance
Sale: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Vente O'Conor, 7 February 1956Roland, Browse & Delbanco, London
Waddington Galleries, London (1958) (titled Nu)
Miss Robinson (purchased from the above)
Browse & Darby, London
Private Collection, London (purchased from the above in 1994)
Exhibitions
London, Waddington Galleries, Three Painters - Ivon Hitchens, Jack B. Yeats, Roderic O'Conor, July - August 1958, no.20 (titled Nu)London, Barbican Art Gallery, Roderic O'Conor, September - November 1985, no.47 (titled Nu)
Belfast, Ulster Museum, Roderic O'Conor, November 1985 - January 1986, no.47 (titled Nu)
London, Browse & Darby, Roderic O'Conor, 1860-1940, October - November 1994, no.18
Literature
D. Sutton, Studio, November 1960, no.195, illus. p.172R. Johnston, Roderic O'Conor, London, Barbican Art Gallery, 1985, no.47, illus. pp.82-83 (titled Nu)
J. Benington, Roderic O'Conor: A Biography, with a Catalogue of his Work, Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 1992, no.129, p.205, illus. pl.43
J. Benington, Roderic O'Conor, 1860-1940, 1994, London, Browse & Darby, illus. no.18
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