Paintings by Stephen O’Donnell

Born in the Puget Sound Basin city of Everett, Washington in 1958, Stephen O’Donnell is a self-taught artist who, in addition to other genres, often works in the style of portrait historié, the depiction of a subject in historic, biblical or mythological guise. This genre originated in the Netherlands in the latter part of the sixteenth century as a synthesis of portraiture and historical painting. The term itself, however, originated in France during the eighteenth-century. 

The son of a military family whose father served in the Air Force, O’Donnell received his initial education at various schools where he established his identity as an artist. As a teenager, O’Donnell participated in art competitions and exhibitions and accepted commissions for portraits. When he was nineteen, his father retired and the family, except for O’Donnell, settled in Portland. 

Instead of choosing a college-level art school, Stephen O’Donnell relocated in 1980 to San Francisco. During the next six years, he designed theatrical costumes for the city’s Shakespeare Festival, attended acting workshops and taught vocal performance workshops. O’Donnell’s primary focus at this time was on singing, most often done in San Francisco’s vibrant cabaret scene. It was not until his move to Los Angeles in 1986 that O’Donnell gradually started painting again, not  to market his art but to fulfill his need to make art.  

O’Donnell is not an artist who paints the world around him. He is instead an artist who paints the world of paintings. O‘Donnell doesn’t paint a tree that looks like a tree, but rather one that looks like a wonderful painting of a tree. His art training grew from his love of history and biography. O’Donnell was drawn to the art world through book illustrations and reproductions of both classical paintings and crafted artifacts; through these images, he learned the history of art and design. His interest in pre-1980 films, such as the classics shot by Vittorio De Sica and Luchino Visconti, both masters of lighting and design, also served as inspiration for his career as a painter.

Stephen O’Donnell’s greatest artistic appreciation and enjoyment in the art world lies within its history of portraiture. Although he paints a variety of portraits and other images, his oeuvre is the self-portrait in all its many forms. A play of gender is the most recognizable thematic device in O’Donnell’s work. Identifying clearly as non-binary, he has always felt a deep connection to the concept of berdache, meaning two-spirit, a person embodying a blending of both genders. Used by some Indigenous Native American cultures, it is a term for gender-nonconforming people and the roles they fill in their communities. In his self portraits, O’Donnell appears in many historical guises, either male or female, all artistically attired but presented with a bit of whimsy. 

O’Donnell has been exhibiting his work since 1995 in both group and solo exhibitions throughout the United States, including the Oregon Biennial at the Portland Art Museum. His work is housed in private collections and such public institutions as the Portland Art Museum, Oregon’s Hallie Ford Museum of Art, the Long Beach Museum of Art in California, and the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York City, among others. O’Donnell is represented by the Russo Lee Gallery in Portland, Oregon, and TEW Galleries in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Stephen O’Donnell has been married since 2006 to writer and graphic designer Gigi Little. Their 2018 book, “The Untold Gaze”, is a collection of O’Donnell’s paintings paired with short fiction works by thirty-three authors, each piece inspired by a painting. In 2023, O’Donnell published “Half-Light”, a collection of ten stories that explore, in historical and contemporary settings, the issues of gender and sexuality, aging and youthful striving, resignation and resilience. Both volumes are available through O’Donnell’s website as well as major book distributors. 

“I very frequently employ the self portrait as the basis for my work. I’ve long felt that, by beginning with myself as the model, I’m able to avoid the biggest limitation of the portrait as an art form: that it’s “about” someone specific. In my paintings, because the portrait is only of the artist, the viewer, while including whatever they might perceive of the artist, still has more of an opportunity to find their own narrative in whatever visual scenario I might present.” -Stephen O’Donnell

Stephen O’Donnell’s website is located at: https://stephenodonnellartist.com/home  

O’Donnell’s blog, “Gods and Foolish Grandeur”, is located at: https://godsandfoolishgrandeur.blogspot.com

The Russo Lee Gallery in Portland, Oregon is located at: https://www.russoleegallery.com/artists/stephen-odonnell/featured-works?view=thumbnails

TEW Galleries in Atlanta, Georgia is located at: https://tewgalleries.com/artist/Stephen%20_O’Donnell/works/

Top Inser Image: K. B. Dixon, “Stephen O’Donnell”, Phto Shoot, Gelatin Silver Print

Second Insert Image: Stephen O’Donnell, “Le Pince-nez”, 2013, Acrylic on Panel, 30.5 x 30.5 cm (Available at Artist)

Third Insert Image: Stephen O’Donnell, “Silk”, 2023, Les Animaux Series, Acrylic on Panel, 30.5 x 30.5 cm, Private Collection

Bottom Insert Image: Stephen O’Donnell, “L’Innocence”, 2012, Acrylic on Panel, 30.5 x 30.5 cm, Private Collection