Adam's The Antoinette and Patrick J.Murphy Collection 23rd October 2019

52 39 RODERIC O’CONOR (1860-1940) Femme Lisant or ‘Woman Reading’ (c.1907/8) Oil on canvas, 54.6 x 45.7cm (21.4 x 18“) Stamped verso with atelier stamp Provenance: Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Vente O’Conor, 07.02.1956; Browse and Darby, London 1982; Sotheby’s, London, 19.05.1982, No.73; Private Collection. Exhibited: Browse and Darby, ‘French Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture 19th & 20th Century ’, London 1982, Catalogue No.19; Browse and Darby, Roderic O’Conor 1860-1940 , London 1994. Literature: Jonathan Benington, Roderic O’Conor , Irish Academic Press 1992, Catalogue No.120, p.204; Patrick J. Murphy, ‘A Passion for Collecting: A Memoir ’, 2012, illustrated in colour. € 30,000 - 50,000 This painting by Roderic O’Conor, circa 1907-08, with its remarkably simple compositional format, perfectly captures that mood of concentration associated with the private activity of reading. It was painted by O’Conor in his rue du Cherche-Midi studio in Paris, in the popular artist quartier of Montparnasse on the left bank of the river Seine. He lived there for many years after his association with Paul Gauguin’s group of artists in Brittany, a province in northwest France. The young woman who is the subject of this painting is most likely to be Renée Honta, who was initially O’Conor’s model in Paris, subsequently his mistress, and the woman he eventually married in 1933. O’Conor chose to place his subject on a wooden chair with her back to the large studio windows so that the incident light entering the dark interior emphasized the coiffed style into which her red hair has been lifted and pinned. The same light source also establishes a rich tonal contrast between her white chemise and the dark background beyond the figure. The vigorous brush strokes defining the forms are typical of O’Conor’s studio paintings in his post-Brittany years. The light which falls on her right forearm is also cleverly used in the composition to direct our vision to the book she is reading, and from there back to the model’s face. This work is reminiscent of O’Conor’s painting, “ Girl Mending ,” in the collection of the Art Galleries and Museums, Bradford, England. Dr. Roy Johnston, September 2019