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68

Roderic O’Conor RHA (1860-1940) HEAD OF AN OLD MAN, c.1891 stamped "atelier O’CONOR" on reverse o...

Currency:EUR Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:30,000.00 - 40,000.00 EUR
Roderic O’Conor RHA (1860-1940) HEAD OF AN OLD MAN, c.1891 stamped atelier O’CONOR on reverse o...
Roderic O’Conor RHA (1860-1940)
HEAD OF AN OLD MAN, c.1891
stamped "atelier O’CONOR" on reverse
oil on wood
46 by 37cm., 18 by 14.5in.
Provenance:
Hôtel Drouot, Paris, vente O’Conor, 7 February 1956;
Godolphin Gallery, Dublin, 1978;
Pym’s Gallery, London, 1991;
Private collection, Co. Dublin
Exhibited:
"Roderic O’Conor: A Selection of His Best Works in Ireland", Godolphin Gallery, Dublin 1978, catalogue no. 13
Literature:
Jonathan Benington, Roderic O’Connor: A Biography, With a Catalogue of his Work, Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 1922, catalogue no. 15, colour plate no. 6
In 1891, O'Conor left Grez-sur-Loing, which was then fading in importance as a vital artists’ colony, choosing instead to settle in Pont-Aven in Brittany. Here, writes biographer Jonathan Benington, was a "scene at once thrilling and challenging" and his time spent there (1891-1895) led to a crucial change of style. The present work is significant for its indications of how O'Conor's painting style was to develop. It belongs to a series of portraits all featuring "the same model, a shaggy individual wearing a sailor's jacket and looking askance rather than directly at the viewer. As character studies, they are conventional enough, being representational rather than Synthesist in style … Only the 'Head of an Old Man' and 'The Cider Drinker', show signs of a shift in his artistic tendencies, with the partial introduction of bold, directional brushstrokes" (Benington, p.51).
€30,000-€40,000 (IR £23,400-£31,200 approx.)
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