Roderic O'Conor (1860-1940) Boat in a Storm/ Christ on the ...

Estimate

€40,000 - €60,000

Roderic O'Conor (1860-1940) Boat in a Storm/ Christ on the Sea of Galilee, (c.1898-1900) Oil on canvas, 71.8 x 90.6cm (281⁄4 x 351⁄2) Stamped with the studio stamp ‘atelier O’CONOR’ verso Provenance: Paris, Hotel Drouot, Vente O'Conor, 7/2/1956; with John Dorsay Baltimore, March 1983; Sale, Christie's, London, 10/5/2007, cat. no. 67; Collection Francis D. Murnaghan Jr. Literature: J.Benington, 'Roderic O'Conor, a Biography with a Catalogue of his Work’, Dublin, 1992 ' Cat. No.82, p. 199 This remarkable work belongs to a rare and evocative series of twilight and nocturnal scenes produced by Roderic O’Conor in the late 1890s. These pieces, deeply influenced by O’Conor’s engagement with the Symbolist circle—including figures like Paul Gauguin, Alfred Jarry, and Charles Morice—represent a period of introspective exploration within his Breton sojourn. Pieces such as Boat in a Storm, The Bull and The Moon, and Seascape by Moonlight stand as testaments to this Symbolist interlude, marking a stark departure from his typically observed subjects. Imbued with mystery and enigma, both in execution and interpretation, they are among the most imaginative and original works of his career. The ethereal quality of these paintings aligns them closely with the moonlit seascapes of his American contemporary, Albert Pinkham Ryder. In crafting these evocative scenes, O’Conor pays homage to Gauguin’s teachings, delving into realms of inner thought and feeling rather than mere external observation. O’Conor’s engagement with Symbolism was so avant-garde that he worked on these paintings privately, developing them at a slower pace while concurrently producing his more immediate series of Breton seascapes. The seascapes, completed in one or two sittings with thinner layers of paint, capture the rugged and powerful landscapes of Brittany’s coastline. This experience, marked by dramatic locations and atmospheric effects, must have emboldened O’Conor to create Boat in a Storm. Here, under turbulent skies delineated by strong cloisonné contours, a two-masted boat tips precariously, its sails battered by fierce winds as it rises from a wave’s trough, poised to confront the full force of the approaching swell. In this composition, every element serves to communicate the raw power of nature. The foreground’s serpentine brushstrokes animate the surging waves, echoing the tumultuous energy of the sky. The boat itself is positioned at the heart of a dynamic, vortex-like structure formed by intersecting diagonals—one created by the masts, the other by a bold ribbon of white paint that nearly touches the canvas’s lower edge. Through striking tonal contrasts, O’Conor amplifies the drama of the scene, framing a bright strip of sky within bands of near-black, intensifying the impending peril. Stories of shipwrecks and loss were common within the Breton fishing communities of the 19th century, an era when O’Conor worked among Concarneau’s seafarers, including an old fisherman who served as one of his early models. O’Conor would have been familiar with Pêcheur d’Islande, Pierre Loti’s renowned 1886 novel chronicling a tragic romance set amid the Icelandic seas. It is within this secular, often harsh reality of Breton life that Boat in a Storm finds its most resonant interpretation, far removed from religious symbolism. Indeed, despite an alternative title, Christ Walking on the Sea of Galilee, the painting is better viewed as a powerful tribute to the elemental challenges faced by those who brave the sea.