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oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Vente O'Conor, 7 February 1956;
Roland, Browse & Delbanco, London, 1972; where purchased by Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr, and thence by descent to the present owner
EXHIBITED

Pont-Aven, Musée de Pont-Aven, Roderic O'Conor 1860-1940, 1984, no. 14, illustrated on front cover of catalogue;
Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, and tour to Ulster Museum, Belfast, The Irish Impressionists: Irish Artists in France and Belgium 1850-1914, no. 98, illustrated in the catalogue;
London, Barbican Art Gallery, and tour to Ulster Museum Belfast, National Gallery, Dublin and Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, Roderic O'Conor 1860-1940, 1985, no. 42, illustrated in the catalogue;
Baltimore, Walters Art Gallery, An Irish Perspective: Paintings from the Collection of the Hon. Francis D. Murnaghan Jr., 17 March - 26 April 1983, 1994-95;
Dublin, Hugh Lane Gallery, Roderic O'Conor Room, 1997-2000
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Roy Johnston, 'Roderic O'Conor in Brittany', Irish Arts Review, no.1, spring 1984, pp. 12 (illustrated) and 17;
Jonathan Benington, Roderic O'Conor, a Biography with a Catalogue of his Work, Dublin 1992, p.203, no.107(illustrated in colour on p.101, plate 37)
CATALOGUE NOTE

Although the Pont-Aven School disbanded after Gauguin's final departure for France in 1895, O'Conor continued his association with Brittany until 1904, staying first at Rochefort-en-terre in Morbihan, before returning to Pont-Aven in 1899. The massive seasonal migration to the town of tourists and painters did not prevent him from remaining loyal to his old stamping ground. After a dozen years he still had a great affection for the place, and he maintained his contacts with fellow Pont-Aven School painters Wladyslaw Slewinski, Charles Filiger, Ernest de Chamaillard, Armand Seguin and Paul Sérusier.

Bretonne was painted in Pont-Aven during O'Conor's last season in Brittany (1903-04), during which he put up at the Hôtel des Voyageurs on the town square, where he had the use of a studio on the third floor. Here he painted still lifes and a series of portraits of young Breton women wearing local costume, which took the place of the outdoor subjects he previously favoured. The most famous portrait from this group was the Young Breton Girl (see Fig.1, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art) which O'Conor sent to the important 1904 Exhibition of Irish Painters at London's Guildhall, and which he subsequently presented to the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art in Dublin. The subject of this sombre picture was a teenage girl in mourning, with the ribbons of her headdress unfurled around her shoulders and her white lace collar covered by a black shawl. Another portrait of this same sitter survives (Sotheby's, London, 3 November 1982, no. 89, see Fig.2), in which she is depicted wearing identical costume.

Opinions vary as to whether or not the girl in mourning was the same model as that used for Bretonne. Whilst there are undeniable similarities in the facial features, especially the shape of the mouth and the eyebrows, the subject of the present work appears fuller faced and more mature, and is lacking the mourning attire seen in the other two pictures. Could the two models have been sisters? Alternatively, might the artist have applied some artistic license in order to achieve an expression of such fierce pride, turning and raising the girl's head slightly so that she looks down at us out of the corners of her eyes? The answer may never be known, yet it is beyond doubt that the impact of Bretonne derives from the fact that in this picture, more than any other in the series, he has focused the viewer's attention on the model's head by allowing it to occupy such a significant proportion of the canvas surface.

In 1903 O'Conor's forms acquired a new solidity and sense of volume through the deployment of strong lighting combined with firm modelling. In Bretonne this effect manifests itself as a visual presence verging on the sculptural, with the head and shoulders appearing almost to leap off the surface of the canvas. In painterly terms this was achieved by a dense build-up of pigment across the entire canvas, creating a rich and varied surface through changes in the direction, size and weight of the brushstrokes. Many of the marks have been given a linear thrust, resulting in an overall web of calligraphic gestures that is strongly reminiscent of the 'striping' technique O'Conor used in Faience, dating from the same year (Sotheby's, London, 21 June 2000, lot 22, see Fig.3). Both works rely extensively on red and green striations to represent the darker tones and shadows. By juxtaposing complimentary colours in such a bold fashion, we are reminded of the artist's early awareness of the methods of Van Gogh.

Whilst the various forms of Bretonne have been animated from within by repeated parallel streaks of paint, they are held in check by firmly defined contours. This emphasis on linear structure heralds a departure from O'Conor's normal practice, which was to apply brilliant colours in expansive washes. Perhaps the availability of a studio allowed him more time to develop the finish of his pictures than was possible when working outdoors. Or then again, the change of approach seen in Bretonne could well have been conceived as a response to comments made by his friend, Armand Seguin, in a letter dated 12 March 1903:

"I believe that any and every motif can be the basis of a fine work, but you won't object to my preferring the form of a human body to that of an apple or the folds of silk to those of a dishcloth. You admit to this preference with much less conviction than I feel about it, because I think that what you see first of all is the colours round about you, whereas what charms and takes hold of me is, above all else, beautiful lines.....It is perhaps because, in certain of your paintings, you haven't pursued this quality which I regard as primordial, that all the fine shades of your talent, the thoughtful search which goes into your colour, and the details which give us such pleasure, do not come across at their true value."

Whatever the artist's motivation, it is striking how thoroughly Bretonne puts pay to this critique. The execution of the painting is distinguished by as much authority and control as have been lavished on the interpretation of the sitter's character. No shrinking violet, she is haughty and proud, maintaining a respectful distance that allows her to preserve her Breton 'otherness', her remoteness from the fashions and foibles of bourgeois society.

Jonathan Benington