Wooded landscape with a figure resting by a path in the foreground

The present picture is probably an imaginary view loosely based on the landscape of Co. Wicklow, and on a stylistic basis would seem likely to have been painted at some point in the mid to late 1820s. O'Connor had moved to London in 1822 having not prospered sufficiently in Ireland despite gaining the patronage of landowners such as the Marquesses of Clanricarde and Sligo and Courtney Kenny, of Ballinrobe House, Co. Mayo, as well as regularly exhibiting his work in Dublin. The present picture reflects the change in mood that his work underwent while in London becoming more romantic in spirit. In England, O'Connor exhibited at the Royal Academy and the British Institution but many of his subjects remained Irish. He continued to make regular trips to Ireland where he found inspiration in the 'wild and beautiful landscape' of his native country as well as travelling widely in England and later on the Continent. In a letter (dated 3 March 1992) John Hutchinson commented of this picture that 'the composition, colouration, and brushwork are typical of the artist ... and the picture as a whole might fairly be described as one of the best O'Connors of its type to come on the market in recent years'.