O'Connor, Patrick (1909–97), artist, curator, and sportsman, was born 7 May 1909 in the Clamart district of Paris, youngest of four sons of Andrew O'Connor (qv), sculptor, and his wife Jessie Phoebe (née Brown), a model for much of her husband's work. His father came from a long line of distinguished artists; both parents were of Irish descent and held a romantic view of Ireland. The family lived in Paris from 1905 and with the outbreak of war in 1914 they moved to America, where his father established a studio at Paxton, Mass. Patrick was tutored privately and trained in painting and sculpture in his father's studio, as did his brother Roderick (qv). Patrick was a somewhat prickly and difficult individual with strong opinions, for which he partly blamed his private education. His father greatly influenced him and both father and son were firmly opposed to modernism and abstraction. He was technically very gifted and in his teens sketched some very good self-portraits and also made some fine copies of the masters. His father encouraged him to imitate Goya and Roderick to imitate Rembrandt. On occasion he would assist his father on some of his numerous commissions for public sculpture.
The family returned to Paris (c.1926) where he exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français, being one of the youngest exhibitors. He continued his studies of the paintings in the museums and galleries of Europe and soon developed a good eye. Thus he became a connoisseur of old masters for various collectors and was a collector and dealer in paintings himself. At the Paris International he entered a bust, ‘Barroméo the monk’ (1937). He visited Ireland several times during the 1930s and 1940s and exhibited with the Royal Hibernian Academy from an address at 24 Lower Pembroke St., Dublin (1940) showing ‘Deer stalker’ and a portrait of his father. In 1941 he entered another portrait, giving his address as Glencullen House, Co. Wicklow, which his father owned for a short time. There were many good paintings in the house. He returned from New York (1946) with the intention of settling for good, but in fact only stayed three months and exhibited with the RHA for the last time with a portrait, this time from 48 Upper Mount St., Dublin. Ireland was small and insular, yet he later formed the opinion that conversation was freer than in New York.
O'Connor was an excellent long-distance swimmer and represented the USA in swimming in the 1932 Tailteann games, Dublin. A large, powerfully-built man, he took part in professional wrestling bouts in the US, Ireland, and Europe, and held the Irish championship; he later refereed several championships. He also engaged in some professional boxing and challenged the world heavyweight champion Joe Louis to a ‘no holds barred contest’. Posters printed for the contest featured a photograph of O'Connor with the caption ‘The man who says he can beat Joe Louis’. Louis declined the challenge. It was a difficult time for selling paintings and this parallel career helped supplement his income. Prone to hot-tempered outbursts, he had a gold ring made for his finger with the word ‘serene’ impressed on it and he rubbed it if he felt his anger rising. It served equally as a signal for people to run for cover. He married (1941) Marthe Lamquet, and they lived mostly in New York where their only child, Andrew, was born on 1 March 1943. O'Connor also had a son from a brief relationship in 1937. He served as staff sergeant in the 69th (‘Fighting Irish’) Regiment of the New York National Guard during the second world war.
He returned to Ireland to accept a position as curator of the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin, and lived on the top floor of Charlemont House. Some major exhibitions were held during his tenure (1954–9), most notably ‘Paintings from Irish collections’ (20 May–25 August 1957). In the catalogue compiled by James White (1913–2003) for the exhibition, O'Connor was acknowledged warmly for giving unsparingly of his time and knowledge. He lent three works from his own collection to the exhibition: two studies for tapestry cartoons (canvas) by Goya and a painting by William Mark Fisher, ‘Mustafa from Algiers’. Other lenders included Sir Alfred Beit (qv) and Lady Goff. For the gallery catalogue O'Connor adopted a controversial tone, stating that ‘Public galleries must be vigilant to escape the invariably debased influences of the art critics and art dealers and the coterie of shallow “progressives” and “intellectuals” who are forever buzzing around art and what passes for art’ (preface in Municipal Art Gallery: illustrated catalogue (1958), 6). One purchase he was involved in for the gallery was a study for ‘The dancers’ by the British artist Ambrose McEvoy. During this period he frequented Jammet's restaurant and befriended Jack. B. Yeats (qv), whose portrait he painted, Seán O'Sullivan (qv), Patrick Kavanagh (qv), and many others. He returned to New York (1960) and continued painting. O'Connor collected engravings and drawings of Robert Emmet (qv), with the intention of making a study of him. In New York one day he saw a man who looked just like Emmet, and he approached and told him of his project. By an extraordinary coincidence the man was Thomas Addis Emmet, a distant relation of the patriot. The bust is now in TCD library, Dublin.
His wife Marthe suffered from hypertension and died in Ireland on 24 August 1963 aged 47. O'Connor travelled for a while and settled in London, where he married Anne Hunter, an American actress. The marriage ended in divorce, as did his marriage to Francoise D'Horizon Mengoni (1974); he married fourthly Ann Saporetti. He was staying in Florida with his brother Roderick when he died on 27 April 1997.