Maureen O'Connor's Compote of Lemons with Ducks
by Michael St.Germain


A note to potential collectors...

What I like about this painting is its potential accessibility to a varied spectrum of viewers and its understated presentation of painterly ability.

This is a work by an artist who projects her love of art history through the depiction of a very idiosyncratic cast of still life characters with the utmost attention and affection. Colors are specific and intentional with no evidence of muddy mixtures.

Figures are positioned so that they engage in a dialogue with the colors and shapes on the printed fabric. Simultaneously, a dynamic composition (that is symmetric and geometric) carries the viewer's attention to specific locations in the work.

There is much in this work for many a contemporary viewer to enjoy. While I sense a genuine engagement between the artist and the objects she paints, others may respond differently.

Some may delight in the over-the-top simutaneity of pattern and decoration in this work. Others may enjoy the presence of irony and kitsch. Still others may detect in the works unabashed happiness, a foil to much of contemporary visual culture.

A visual analysis...


Some may argue that this is essentially a sentimental painting with a subject matter that borders on kitsch. To do so is to grossly miss the mark.

This intelligent painting mediates the relationship between shape and form with color, utilizes surface decoration to illustrate form and exhibits a dynamic composition which positions the viewer as a literal extension of the painting.

Note the visual synergy between the printed fabric and the objects arranged on top of it. The colors of the objects are approximated in the colors of the table covering (e.g. white goose standing on the white flower with a blue center).

Additionally, the outlines of some of the objects are loosely mirrored in the shapes on the printed cloth (e.g. white leaf between geese has an outline approximating the shape of the lemon above it).

The objects in this painting are skillfully arranged so that the viewer's attention is led on triangular visual journeys to specific locations both inside and outside of the work.

Here is an example. The porcelain lady is looking at the goose directly beneath the teddy bear. This goose is pointing its beak at the orange shape in the lower lefthand corner of the canvas. This shape calls attention to the (leftmost) lemon above by mimicking its outline.

Another example. The lemon in the center of the table appears to be pointing at the viewer's waist area. When the viewer recognizes this, chances are that he or she will look back at the lemon and follow its axis to the uppermost lemon in the compote. This lemon, in turn, will appear to point to a location somewhere in the vicinity of the viewer's head.

Note: the vertical leg of this last triangle is an imaginary line connecting the viewer's torso, neck and head.

Maureen's paint handling is firm and decisive. Low profile brushstrokes effectively convey and suggest the essentially flat surfaces of her subjects.