Kathleen O'Connor (painter)

Kathleen O'Connor
Self portrait c.1935
Born(1876-09-14)14 September 1876
Hokitika, New Zealand
Died24 August 1968(1968-08-24) (aged 91)
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Known forPainting

Kathleen Laetitia "Kate" O'Connor (14 September 1876 – 24 August 1968) was an impressionist painter with a career in Western Australia and France. She was a daughter of the celebrated engineer Charles Yelverton O'Connor.[1]

Biography

O'Connor was born in Hokitika, New Zealand the daughter of Charles Yelverton O'Connor and his wife Susan Laetitia O'Connor (née Ness). She was educated at Marsden School, Wellington and by private tuition in Perth from 1891,[2] including lessons from artist Florence Fuller.[3]

She studied painting in Perth Technical School under James Linton and at the Bushey School, England, under Hubert von Herkomer. She worked for a time in fashionable department stores in Sydney then moved to Paris, France where she lived (apart from the war years which she spent, miserably, in London) from 1907 to 1950.

She exhibited regularly at the Salon d'Automne in Paris from 1911 as well as the Salon Française and Société des Femmes Peintres et Sculpteurs. In Perth she frequently exhibited at the Claude Hotchin Galleries, including several one-woman shows.

Sheltering in London during the two world wars, in 1948 she returned to Western Australia with crates of her paintings and sketches which were impounded at Fremantle, subject to 20% import tax. She was forced to destroy 150 works and pay duty on the remainder.[4]

She returned to Australia permanently in 1955, living in Perth, but reluctantly. She probably never forgave that city for the callous treatment her father received which led to his suicide. She resented being away from Paris but could no longer afford to live there; her work was no longer fashionable and her private sources of income had largely dried up. She maintained, as far as possible, a Parisian lifestyle and was considered to affect an air of superiority. She could not countenance being buried in Australian soil and had her ashes scattered over the sea.[2]

She is represented in all Australian State galleries and, largely as a result of bequests by Sir Claude Hotchin, in most Western Australian regional galleries.

Named works in collections

  • Flowers and Oriental Carpet (Algeria)[5]
  • In the Studio (circa 1928)[6]
  • Between hours c1928-30[7]
  • Still Life, Paris - study in whites (1936)[8]
  • Nursemaids in the Luxembourg Gardens (circa 1923)[8]
  • In a Bohemian Atmosphere[9]
  • Cherries in perspective[10]
  • The Priest[11]
  • Verging on the abstract [12]
  • L'heure du the [Tea time] c1928[13]

Exhibitions

  • solo exhibition at the Galerie J. Allard, in Paris in February 1937[4]
  • solo exhibition at Galerie Marseille, Paris in June 1953[4]
  • solo exhibition at Osborne Gallery in Adelaide 1965[4]
  • solo exhibition at South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne in 1966[4]
  • Retrospective exhibition at Art Gallery of Western Australia in 1967[4]
  • "Retrospective" at Art Gallery of Western Australia July, 1996 [5]
  • at the Bunbury Regional Art Gallery in 2017[14]
  • "Being There - Kathleen O'Connor in Paris" at Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre (Sep-Nov 2018)[15]
  • "Know my Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now" at National Gallery of Australia (Nov 2020 to May 2021)[16]

References

  1. ^ Watson, James, "Kathleen Laetitia (Kate) O'Connor (1876–1968)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 1 August 2025
  2. ^ a b James Watson, 'O'Connor, Kathleen Laetitia (1876–1968)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/oconnor-kathleen-laetitia-7876/text13689, accessed 20 January 2013.
  3. ^ Kerr, Joan (1995). "Florence Fuller – biography". Design and Art Australia Online. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Gooding, Janda (1995). "Kathleen O'Connor b.14 September 1876". Design & Art Australia online. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  5. ^ a b Scheding, Stephen (7 August 1996). "Woman of shadows liberated by painting". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 16.
  6. ^ "Australian Art, KATHLEEN O'CONNOR 'in the studio'". National Gallery of Australia, On Demand, Video. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  7. ^ "O'CONNOR, Kathleen | QAGOMA Collection Online". collection.qagoma.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  8. ^ a b "Still life, Paris - study in whites, 1936 by Kathleen O'Connor". www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  9. ^ ""In a Bohemian Atmosphere", by Kathleen O'Connor | WAnderland | Western Australian Museum". visitwanderland.com.au. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Artists | NGV". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  11. ^ "Artists | NGV". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  12. ^ "Artists | NGV". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  13. ^ "L'heure du thé [Tea time]". Art Gallery WA Collection Online. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  14. ^ "Kathleen O'Connor, West Australian Artist – MakeCookGrow.com". 10 June 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  15. ^ "Being There – Kathleen O'Connor in Paris". Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  16. ^ "KNOW MY NAME: AUSTRALIAN WOMEN ARTISTS 1900 TO NOW Part One". National Gallery of Australia (nga.gov.au). Retrieved 2 August 2025.

Sources

McCulloch, Alan Encyclopaedia of Australian Art Hutchinson of London 1968

Further reading

  • Hutchins, Patrick "Last Link with Impressionism" Bulletin, Sydney, 4 March 1967
  • Hutchings, P A E and Lewis, Juliet "Kathleen O'Connor Artist in Exile" Fremantle Arts Centre Press 1987[1]
  • Curtin, Amanda "Kathleen O'Connor of Paris" Fremantle Press, 2018
  1. ^ "Kathleen O'Connor: Artist in Exile". AWR. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
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