Maisons Rouges à Pont-Aven – Roderic O'Conor

About the Artwork

Painted around 1894–95 during one of the most formative periods of his career, Maisons Rouges à Pont-Aven is a rare village scene within the Breton work of Roderic O'Conor. Unlike his more typical rural landscapes, this composition focuses on the vernacular architecture of Pont-Aven itself, with rows of red rooftops rising rhythmically up a sun-struck hillside.

Executed with lively, calligraphic brushwork, the painting conveys the immediacy of working en plein air, likely completed in one or two sittings. The entire surface—sky, foliage, and buildings—is energised by scumbling strokes and heightened local colour, evoking the oppressive heat of a midday sun. Russets, oranges, blues, and greens are deliberately intensified to heighten emotional impact rather than descriptive accuracy.

Painted while O'Conor was living and working in Pont-Aven, the work reflects his close engagement with Post-Impressionist experimentation. Although influenced by the bold chromatic language of contemporaries such as Paul Gauguin, O'Conor resisted synthetist flatness and firm outlining, instead maintaining a more expressive, painterly approach rooted in his own artistic principles.

Subtle traces of his earlier Van Gogh–inspired 'striping' technique remain visible in the sky and rooftops, underscoring his independence of vision. Maisons Rouges à Pont-Aven stands as a confident statement of O'Conor's mature style—bridging Irish modernism with continental Post-Impressionism while remaining unmistakably his own.

About the Artist

Roderic O'Conor (1860–1940) was one of Ireland's most important early modern painters and a central figure in the Pont-Aven circle. Working primarily in France during the 1890s, he developed a distinctive expressive language that bridged Irish modernism and continental Post-Impressionism. His work is held in major public and private collections and is widely regarded as foundational to the story of Irish modern art.

Sizes & Format

• 40 × 50 cm / 16 × 20″
• Available framed (black, white, wood) or unframed

Print & Frame Details

Archival matte paper, 250gsm (110lb), acid-free and FSC-certified — off-white, uncoated. Framed prints: solid oak or ash wood frame, 20mm thick, with shatterproof protective glazing. Ready to hang, hanging kit included. Unframed prints up to A4 ship flat; larger sizes ship rolled in a protective tube.

Free Worldwide Shipping

Framed prints are packed with protective corners and wrap, boxed with reinforced edges, and braced with internal supports for extra rigidity (max 3 frames per package). Every order ships free, made to order and delivered from the hub closest to you: Ireland 3–7 business days · UK 4–8 · USA 5–10 · Canada 6–12 · Australia 7–14.