Kathleen Laetitia "Kate" O'Connor (14 September 1876 – 24 August 1968) was an

impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

painter with a career in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and France. She was a daughter of the celebrated engineer C. Y. O'Connor.

Biography

O'Connor was born in

Hokitika, New Zealand Hokitika is a town in the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimate ...

the daughter of Charles Yelverton O'Connor and his wife Susan Laetitia O'Connor (née Ness). She was educated at Marsden School,

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and by private tuition in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

from 1891,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. including lessons from artist

Florence Fuller Florence Ada Fuller (1867 – 17 July 1946) was a South African-born Australian artist. Originally from Port Elizabeth, Fuller migrated as a child to Melbourne with her family. There she trained with her uncle Robert Hawker Dowling and teacher ...

. She studied painting in

Perth Technical School Central Institute of Technology was a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institution based in Perth, Western Australia until 2016, at which point it became a part of North Metropolitan TAFE. It was the equal oldest post-secondary educationa ...

under James Linton and at the Bushey School, England, under

Hubert von Herkomer Sir Hubert von Herkomer (born as Hubert Herkomer; 26 May 1849 – 31 March 1914) was a Bavarian-born British painter, pioneering film-director, and composer. Though a very successful portrait artist, especially of men, he is mainly remembered fo ...

. 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. 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. 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.

References

Sources

McCulloch, Alan ''Encyclopaedia of Australian Art'' Hutchinson of London 1968

External links

images of Kathleen O'Connor's paintings
at the National Gallery of Australia
images of Kathleen O'Connor's paintings
at the Art Gallery of New South Wales {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Kathleen 1876 births 1968 deaths Australian women painters Australian Impressionist painters Australian people of Irish descent People educated at Samuel Marsden Collegiate School 20th-century Australian women artists 20th-century Australian artists New Zealand emigrants to Australia

Biography

References

Sources

Further reading

External links