THE IRRESISTIBLE FRANK O'MEARA – An Irish Artist in France

by Mary Stratton Ryan

ISBN 978 1910140 420    144 pages (hardback)   24x17cm   168 illus

Carlow-born painter Frank O'Meara (1853-1888) spent most of his short life in France. Trained in Paris, his painting career spanned just twelve years before his untimely death at the age of 35. However, during this period he became a central figure in the artists’ colony of Grez-sur-Loing, 70 km south of Paris. Although his life was short, and in the end he struggled with ill-health, he produced a series of wonderful paintings which combine plein-air naturalism with a symbolist mood, and he reached a high degree of excellence in his work.

During his lifetime he exhibited in Dublin, Glasgow, Liverpool and Paris. His work may be viewed in the Hugh Lane Gallery – which has six fine paintings – and at the Ulster Museum. His drawings can be found in the National Gallery of Ireland and indeed in the Carlow Art Collection. Most of his other work is held in private collections in Ireland and abroad.

This book brings together a richly illustrated biography of the artist, from his childhood in Carlow to his life in France. All of Frank O’Meara’s major works are illustrated in full-page plates, and all of his known works are both illustrated and documented in a detailed catalogue raisonné.

EXTRACT

"One may observe in O’Meara’s portraits the influence of Carolus-Duran, whereas O’Meara’s full-figure studies demonstrate his admiration for the work of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796-1875). Universally admired as a landscape painter, Corot was an individual genius who stood outside most of the mainstream French artistic movements. He painted figures with an exquisite poetic grace, and these figures were to have a profound influence on the young O’Meara, as were his painting methods, and the abiding component in all ‘Corotesque’ landscapes – the contemplative stillness –  was to become the essence of O’Meara’s work. O‘Meara applies the same sensuousness and immediacy that is present in his sketchbook studies to the medium of oil, as he captures his impressions directly from nature. Corot stated: “What I seek in painting is an equilibrium of hues; colour is only second to me.” Corot’s palette of gentle tones and his preference for early morning and evening twilight, which added mystery and poetry to his lyrical landscapes, resonated with the young Irishman. (Corot had also painted the impressive bridge in Grez in 1863.) While following Corot’s principles, however, O’Meara developed his own unique style...
          Four different stages can be perceived in O’Meara’s studies for his paintings. He began outdoors, blocking in the subject completely in pencil, sometimes in oil. He repainted from sketches in the studio using oils. He then made the drawing more precise, his figure studies also being studio studies. Next, he returned to the setting to add details of the landscape, finally working on it in the studio until he considered it perfect. “Nothing should be left imprecise”, was the advice Corot gave to his students. O’Meara painted figures with great refinement, and fused figure and landscape together in harmony. This at-oneness with nature is the essence of the Celtic spirit. In the article ‘A forgotton sensitivist’, the author described O’Meara’s figures as “figures that emerge as flowers from the earth they tread”. O’Meara’s brushstrokes blend the hem of the garments of his figures with the surrounding plants, thus fusing figure and landscape."

— from ch. 6: A great period of plein-air painting

CONTENTS Introduction       6 Acknowledgements    10 Chapter 1    FAMILY BACKGROUND    12 Chapter 2    THE ATELIER OF CAROLUS-DURAN    16 Chapter 3    BARBIZON and THE FOREST OF FONTAINEBLEAU    22 Chapter 4    THE VILLAGE OF Grez-sur-Loing    26 Chapter 5    THE OSBOURNES IN GREZ    34 Chapter 6    A GREAT PERIOD OF PLEIN-AIR PAINTING    42 Chapter 7    MARY ISABELLE BOWES    50 Chapter 8    THE ARTISTS’ COLONY IN GREZ    58 Chapter 9    EXHIBITIONS    74 Chapter 10   ÉTAPLES, PAS-DE-CALAIS    84 Chapter 11   THE FINAL CHAPTER    94 Catalogue raisonné    102 Endnotes / Bibliography /  Miscellany – Paintbox + Sketchbooks / List of Illustrations