33 Portraits of Flannery O'Connor
Because Good Fan Art is Hard to Find
Flannery O’Connor is the object of much fascination, literary and otherwise. Her stories alone would be enough to fixate on—they are dark wonders, grotesque, sardonic, and often transcendent, despite many arguments in favor of their unrelenting bleakness. But she was also a devout Catholic, which at first seems discordant but soon fits in with her gothic sense of humor. But she also, in her twenties, ordered a set of peafowl in the mail, and proceeded to raise some 100 of them before her death from lupus 54 years ago. And then there’s the fact that at five years old, she taught a chicken to walk backwards.
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What I’m saying is: you could easily become obsessed with Flannery O’Connor. You could easily decide to paint her portrait, or collage her face, or make a Flannery O’Connor doll from felt. I would understand and celebrate any of these actions. I would also collect them for others to enjoy. And so, behold: a woefully incomplete but still delightful collection of portraits of Flannery O’Connor, from professional editorial illustrations, to portraiture currently for sale, to simple fan art. Enjoy.
Flannery O’Connor by Mary Bergherr
Flannery O’Connor portrait on the cover of Revelation and Convergence: Flannery O’Connor and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (artist unknown)
Flannery O’Connor by Amanda Atkins
Flannery O’Connor by Tullio Pericoli, 1991
Flannery O’Connor by Richard Merkin
Flannery O’Connor by Natalie Nelson, as published in the O’Connor portrait zine Scale Highly Eccentric
Flannery O’Connor by Katherine Sandoz, from the Non-Fiction Gallery show “Southern Discomfort”
Flannery O’Connor by Maria Forde
Flannery O’Connor by Karin Hagen
Flannery O’Connor by Chris Cook
Flannery O’Connor by Elizabeth McNair, as published in the O’Connor portrait zine Scale Highly Eccentric
Flannery O’Connor by Nancy Douglas
Flannery O’Connor by June Glasson for FSG
Flannery O’Connor by Diana Shafer
Flannery O’Connor by Sharon McGill
Flannery O’Connor by Ashley Anderson, as published in the O’Connor portrait zine Scale Highly Eccentric
Flannery O’Connor by Dan Murdoch, as published in the O’Connor portrait zine Scale Highly Eccentric
Flannery O’Connor by Matt Rota
Flannery O’Connor by Travis Ekmark, as published in the O’Connor portrait zine Scale Highly Eccentric
Flannery O’Connor by Lil Copan
Flannery O’Connor by Melinda Hagman
Flannery O’Connor by Brooke Hatfield, as published in the O’Connor portrait zine Scale Highly Eccentric
Flannery O’Connor by Kerry Stavely
Flannery O’Connor by Abigail Halpin
Flannery O’Connor by Debbie Ritter
Flannery O’Connor by Christine Ernest, as published in the O’Connor portrait zine Scale Highly Eccentric
Flannery O’Connor by Lauren Pope
Flannery O’Connor by Bill Morris
Flannery O’Connor by an unknown artist; photo by Billy Craven
Flannery O’Connor by Rebecca Bowen, as published in the O’Connor portrait zine Scale Highly Eccentric
Flannery O’Connor by Kevin Christy
Finally: is self-fan-art a thing? I think so. Flannery O’Connor’s self-portrait, painted in 1953.
And just for fun, here’s Flannery O’Connor sitting underneath her self-portrait, where it hung in her home. Photo by Joe McTyre via Michigan Quarterly Review