Roderic O'Conor
, Irish, 1860-1940
Title
Study of a NudeDate1894-1904
MediumEtching open bite aquatint, lavis on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 35.6 × 27.3 cm
Plate: 32.5 × 18.7 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 2025
Object numberNGI.2025.14
DescriptionThis is one of the most experimental prints in Roderic O’Conor’s known graphic oeuvre. Unlike any of his other prints, nonetheless, the confident, expressive use of line points to his style. The artist may have repurposed an old plate to make this image as there is evidence of another composition on the plate. It seems to have been made by painting directly onto the varnished surface of the plate using a fine brush. After an application of aquatint to achieve tone, highlights were added using a scraper or burnishing tool. Acid may then have been added directly to the plate in the form of a lavis or wash. Although in the past it was given to Armand Seguin, more recently this has been refuted due to stylistic considerations which have little in common with Seguin’s work and are much closer to the work of O’Conor. The rhythm and fluency of the lines is characteristic of O’Conor expressive drawing style and the subject is similar to oil sketches of nudes painted in his Paris studio after 1904.ProvenancePurchased, previous owner, March 2005; Purchased, 2025