O'Connor, James Arthur (c. 1792–1841)

Irish landscape painter, born in Dublin. Despite enduring the frustration of a lack of patronage throughout his career, he produced some of the most remarkable landscapes by an Irish artist in the early 19th century. His early topographical work, such as his views of Bridge House, Ballinrobe, County Mayo (National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin) were followed by a more picturesque style in the 1820s, which coincided with his settling in London in 1822. His dark, forbidding landscapes of the 1830s are the most accomplished paintings of his career.

The dramatic power of works such as The Frightened Wagoner (1832; National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin), with its emphasis on the power of natural forces, is characteristic of his later work. In The Poachers (1835; National Gallery of Ireland) a striking sense of mood is conveyed through complex handling of light and shade. Such concerns place O'Connor's work in the context of European Romanticism.