Roderic O' Conor (Irish 1860-1940)
O'Conor first studied at Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin and subsequently at the Académie Royale des Beaux Arts, Antwerp before moving to Paris in 1883, where he enrolled in Carolus-Duran's atelier. It was 1889 when he started exhibiting at the Indépendants. Attracted to the revolutionary movements of Impressionism and Post Impressionism, he settled permanently in France.
Although the first official record of O'Conor's arrival in Pont-Aven is given as 1892, he probably was there earlier as his first painting with Breton titles appeared already in the Salon des Indépendants of that year. He came under influence of Sisley and Gauguin whom he met in 1894. When the Pont-Aven group split up O'Conor returned to Paris and took a studio in Montparnasse becoming an important figure in the Anglo-Saxon circle. His friends included Clive Bell, Roger Fry and Matthew Smith.
He seldom sold his paintings, most of which remained buried in his studio.
Public collections include
Auckland City Art Gallery, New Zealand
Bradford Art Galleries and Museums
Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Quimper
Musée du Petit Palais, Geneva
Museum of Modern Art, New York
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
Tate, London
Ulster Museum, Belfast
York City Art Gallery
Bibliography
J. Benington, Roderic O'Conor, Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 1992