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William Conor RHA RUA (1884-1968)
!e Slighted Child
Oil on canvas, 75 x 62.5cm (29" x 24"”)
Signed
Provenance: !e artist’s studio, which was above the Bell Gallery in
Belfast where this work was purchased by the current owners circa 1968
In 1925, Holbrook Jackson wrote ‘In the &rst place William Conor is
a painter of genius, and in the second place he is a painter of Belfast.
!ere are notes in his work that suggest he could not have painted
anywhere else, and this despite the fact that he had looked upon the
French impressionists with a)ection and understanding.’ John Hewitt
has also observed, ‘!e inhabitants of Conor’s little streets belong to
the old economy before the Welfare State, to Belfast of the Twenties.’
In 1923, Conor wrote that he had for some time carried a sketchbook
in his pocket, ‘to note down any little happening which strike[s] me as
interesting and signi&cant. With my sketching block held under cover
of a newspaper, I have been able to garner many happy impressions,
which I have afterwards worked up into drawings and paintings.’
!e
Slighted Child
suggests a painting that has been worked from an earlier
sketch, when the artist would have observed the boy, standing forlorn
and dejected following an upbraiding by the woman (his mother per-
haps) standing in a doorway further up the street, at the top left of the
painting. Most likely, the boy with his open mouth and darkly rendered
downcast eyes, has been crying due to his perceived injustice of adults -
that heartfelt emotion particular to childhood. !e painting has been
pared down to its essential elements which is typical of Conor. !e
focus is &rmly on the child in his orange jacket, the sun hitting the top
of his head and the side of his face. !e muted palette and treatment
of the terraced facade suggest a recollection on the part of Conor and
an attendant sense of nostalgia.!e city of Belfast is indicated through
the backdrop of houses and the streetscape environment suggests that
houses opposite could witness
!e Slighted Child
, a further injustice,
when clearly the child has %ed outside in search of solitude to regain
composure. It is a powerful rendition of a familiar feeling recollected
from childhood. In 1926 Conor went to Philadelphia is the USA and
stayed there for nine months. According to !eo Snoddy, at that time
the artist showed at the Babcock Galleries, New York where an attrac-
tive child-study by Conor, saw the artist inundated with requests from
parents who wanted their children drawn or painted.
Marianne O’Kane Boal
!&#,### - &$,###
