“Family Group Luxembourg Gardens” by Kathleen O’Connor

Picture the artist, seated at an easel with her palette in front of her, in one of her favourite locations in Paris where she often made quick drawings and paintings of people enjoying the beautiful gardens. She captures the poses of this family sitting on folding stools, with flowering bushes and trees behind them. The cardboard on which she paints is lightweight, so it is easy for her to carry a number of pieces with her. It is also cheap, which was important for a struggling artist. Kathleen O’Connor’s (1876 - 1968) pursuit of the life of an artist took her from Perth to Paris in 1906. This painting was made in 1925 and it is quite likely that she sent it back to her family, or that she bought it with her on one of her trips to Perth. Claude Hotchin was aware of Kathleen O’Connor’s paintings, and in one year, 1949, featured her paintings in four exhibitions at his Perth gallery. It is quite likely that this painting was purchased by Hotchin at this time, and that he kept it in his own collection until he donated it to the Shire of Busselton in 1962. The artist was the daughter of C. Y. O’Connor, the celebrated Engineer-in-Chief of Western Australia who was famous for the creation of Fremantle Port and the Goldfields Pipeline.