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Roderic O’Conor (1860-1940)
Étude de Femme (c.1915-17)
Oil on canvas, 54.5 x 66cm (21½ x 26”)
Signed. Atelier stamp verso
Signed on middle bar of stretcher “No.9 Roderic O’Conor ‘Etude de Femme’
Exhibited: Salon d’Automne, 1919 (1420);
Modern British Paintings
, Crane Kalman Gallery, London, 1969
(2), ill.; London
Roderic O’Conor 1860-1940, Retrospective Exhibition
, Barbican Art Gallery, London; Ulster
Museum, Belfast; National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; Whitworth Gallery, Manchester, 1985 Cat.
no. 66.
Provenance: Hotel Drouot, Paris, Vente O’Conor 7 février, 1956, Crane Kalman Gallery, London, 1969;
Mr.J. P. Reihill, Deepwell Blackrock.
Literature:
Roderic O’Conor 1860 -1940
by Roy Johnston 1985 illustrated p89,
Roderic O’Conor 1860-1940
, by
Jonathan Benington Cat. No. 195 p.213 Dublin, 1992
The young woman who is the subject of this painting by Roderic O’Conor is believed to be Renée Honta. She
was born in 1894 in the south west of France in the historic city of Pau, which is situated near the Pyrenees
close to the border with Spain. Little is known about her early life or her reasons for leaving the parental home
to travel to Paris, but Renée was to play an important role in O’Conor’s life, initially as his model and mistress
and then as his constant companion, later his wife in 1933. O’Conor included the painting in a group of nine
works which he exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in 1919, the year which marked the return of the Salon to
the Paris exhibition calendar following its temporary suspension during World War I.
In this painting Renée, then in her early 20’s, is depicted in a relaxed pose lying on what appears to be a wooden
seat or long bench with a wooden arm rest. Her upper body is probably being supported by a concealed
cushion covered with a draped blue and white patterned fabric, which appears frequently in O’Conor’s studio
paintings. She appears comfortable in her surroundings, and the subtlety of her smile and facial expression seem
to indicate a relaxed relationship with the artist, who, when this portrait was painted, was thirty four years older
than she was.
O’Conor has composed his figure on the diagonal and has added interest to his composition through the
introduction of a specific anatomical contrast between the angularity of her arms and the subtle rhythm of her
reposing body. He has also made the most of the contrast between light and dark areas through an increase in
values in the painting of her upper body and arms, which he has set off against the dark area of the bench and
studio wall beyond. Additional visual contrast is introduced through variety in the paint application, which
ranges from the dark background stain quickly scrubbed into the canvas to the energy of the brush marks
defining the fabric of Renée’s dress in the bottom right corner of the painting. The expressive wet on wet
technique and blending of the paint directly on the canvas is typical of O’Conor’s painting technique at this
period in his career.
Dr. Roy Johnston
€60,000 - 80,000
