Born in 1931, South Texas painter, Madeline O’Connor, was known for her minimalist precision and abiding interest in nature. Throughout her career, O’Connor had 26 solo exhibitions in galleries and museums across the United States, as well as participating in over 45 group exhibitions. Her work "Purple Gallinule" was exhibited at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, along with the work of 11 other women artists. In addition to being a dedicated artist and painter, O’Connor was a known conservationist and naturalist, and often drew inspiration from Texas landscapes including the area around her childhood home in Refugio, TX. Both her “Purple Gallinule Series” and “Ibis Series” demonstrate and were inspired by O’Connor’s concern for birds whose numbers are in decline. Her works are collected in the renowned, minimalist Giuseppi Panza collection in Milan, Italy, and in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and the Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi. O’Connor was also one of 12 women chosen to be part of the “Texas Women” art exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., and 50 photographs of her artwork are held in the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art.

Sources: https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/calendar/the-natural-artistry-of-madeline-oconnor-art-exhibit/event_879176c4-d0cc-11e9-9cca-afdf1f536569.html http://sites.rootsweb.com/~txrefugi/obituaries.htm https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/local/nave-museum-to-host-rare-retrospective-exhibit-of-madeline-oconnors-work/article_4f474f7a-d895-11e9-817d-c7b6cf6a19ea.html https://collection.mcnayart.org/objects/19345