Reclining nude

'Although the nude model appears frequently as subject matter in O'Conor's studio paintings after 1905, this picture is somewhat unusual principally because of its thoughtful composition and means of organisation. By creating a visual and formal interplay between the lines and angles of the legs, arms and torso of his model, O'Conor achieves a clever sense of containment within the rectangular picture frame. The position of the head and upper body lends a sense of monumentality to the figure, which has been painted in thin turpentine washes, almost to the consistency of watercolour.

This approach to painting was a characteristic of his work between 1910 and 1915 and is also seen in many loosely handled still life paintings of ceramic objects and vases of flowers which he made in his Montparnasse studio. O'Conor perhaps felt that the spontaniety of this approach suited his direct way of working, so that many of his pictures retain that sense of immediacy which is associated with the sketch. Some of these paintings draw contrasts between thinly painted areas and others of richer texture, but O'Conor must have considered that this work was complete in itself as he choose not to add more painting than was necessary to capture the essence of his subject'.
(Roy Johnston, private correspondence, April 2000).

We are very grateful to Dr. Roy Johnston for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.