Patrick Collins (1911–1994) was one of Ireland's foremost painters of the 20th century.

He was elected HRHA (Honorary Member of the Royal Hibernian Academy) in 1980 and a member of the artists' academy Aosdána in 1981. He had a major retrospective exhibition hosted by Ireland's Arts Council (Cork, Belfast, Dublin) in 1982. Several solo exhibitions followed, including a Retrospective at Sligo Art Gallery in 1985. Two years later, Collins was the first visual artist to be honoured with the accolade Saoi by Aosdána, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the visual arts in Ireland. In 1988 he received an Honorary Doctorate of Literature from Trinity College, Dublin.

His paintings have been exhibited widely in Ireland and in Europe, and are held in many public and private collections of Irish painting worldwide."Patrick Collins" by Frances Ruane, , 1982"A Day in the Life of Patrick Collins" by Elgy Gillespie, Irish Times, 15 August 1980Who's Who in Irish Visual Art"Patrick Collins, Through Sligo Eyes", RTÉ TV Program, 10 March 2009

"Patrick Collins has made a unique contribution to painting in our time by his power to evoke an aspect of Ireland which captures not only the primary image of the place and the people, but also its spiritual content. His grey-blue landscapes contain images of households, farms and figures, which emerge with a curious imprecise shape that is ultimately seen to be marked by folk-memory and by legend. Like a poet with words, his images penetrate areas beyond exact statement or description – they belong to the area of suggestion and imagination which cannot be identified outside the realm of his own idiom." (James White, Chairman of the Arts Council in the foreword to "Patrick Collins" by Frances Ruane)

Life

Biographical outline 1910 Born in Dromore West, Co. Sligo, lived in Riverstown and Sligo. 1925 School: St. Vincent's C.B.S., Glasnevin, Dublin Later worked for the Irish Life Insurance Company Studied briefly at the National College of Art and Design with George Collie RHA and at the National College of Art 1950 First exhibits at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art (IELA) Exhibits with IELA yearly until 1972 1956 First one-man show, Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin Exhibits with Hendriks until 1973 1958 Won the National Award in Guggenheim Award Exhibition, New York 1962 First exhibits at the Royal Hibernian Academy 1964 First exhibits in Oireachtas Exhibition; exhibits regularly there until 1973 and rarely afterwards 1971 Moves to Paris Irish Landscape Prize at the Oireachtas Exhibition 1973 Moves to Orne, Normandy 1974 Exhibits with Tom Caldwell Galleries from hereafter 1976 Moves to Nice Receives Irish American Cultural Institute Award 1977 Moves back to Ireland 1980 Elected HRHA – Honorary Member of the Royal Hibernian Academy 1981 Elected by peers as member of AosdánaAosdána member list, Patrick Collins 1982 Major retrospective exhibition (Cork, Belfast, Dublin) 1985 Retrospective at Sligo Art Gallery 1987 First visual artist to be honoured with the accolade Saoi by Aosdána in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the visual arts in Ireland 1988 Received Honorary Doctorate of Literature from Trinity College, Dublin

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions 1956, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968 Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin 1968 Mercury Gallery, London 1969, 1970, 1972 David Hendriks Gallery, Dublin 1973 David Hendriks Gallery at Cork Arts Society 1971, 1974, 1976 Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979 Tom Caldwell Gallery, Dublin 1982 Collins Retrospective, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College Dublin (also in Cork and Belfast)Irish Arts Review Spring 2009: "Patrick Collins: A Modern Celt", Brian Fallon 1988, 1989, 1991 Tom Caldwell Gallery, Dublin 2011 "Last Daylight", Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin"Last Daylight" Exhibition catalog, Centenary Exhibition 2011 in the RHA Dublin

Selected group exhibitions 1950 Exhibition of Contemporary Irish Painting, North American Tour 1953 Irish Painting 1903–1953, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin Contemporary Irish Art, Aberystwyth, Wales 1958 Guggenheim Award Exhibition, New York 1963 Twelve Irish Painters, New York 1965 Paintings and Sculpture from Private Collections in Ireland, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin 1966 Modern Irish Paintings, Great Southern Hotels and Ulster Museum, Belfast 1969 Contemporary Irish Painting, Wexford Festival Exhibition of Modern Irish Painting, Northern European and Irish Tour 1970 Aspects of Landscape by Irish Artists, Irish touring exhibition. 1971 The Irish Imagination, Rosc '71, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin Paintings from the Collection of An Chomhairle Ealaion, Irish Tour 1972 The Irish Imagination, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington Exhibition by Irish Painters, Galerie Braun, Paris From Yeats to Ballagh, Kusthalle Lund The Gordon Lamberg Collection, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin Paintings by Irish Artists, Killarney 1976 Irish Art 1900–1950, Cork Rosc 1976, Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork The Gordon Lamberg Collection of Contemporary Art, Ulster Museum, Belfast 1978 Dublin Arts Festival 1979 Contemporary Irish Art, Insurance Corporation of Ireland, Dublin 1980 The Delighted Eye, Arts Councils' Exhibition, London and Irish Tour Irish Art 1943–73, Cork Rosc 1980, Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork and Ulster Museum, Belfast The College Gallery 21st Anniversary Retrospective Exhibition, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin The Collection of Pat and Antoinette Murphy, Belltable Gallery, Limerick

Works in collections Irish National Gallery Liffey Quaysides, 1957-8 Irish Arts Council: Rising Swan Small Holding on the Side of a Mountain Children Playing Predator Bird Atlantic Window Rain on the Moon Oak Tree Arts Council of Northern Ireland AIB CollectionThe AIB Collection in Context: Over a Century of Irish Art Travelling Tinkers, 1968 A Place with Stones, 1979 Table with Exotic Fruit, 1976 Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) Collection Landscape with Declining Sun (1984) The Wood Pigeon's Nest (1974) Field of Old Stones (1978) Bird Against the Window (1963) Headland (1980) Landscape with Church (1956) Bank of Ireland Collection Pigeon House (mouth of the Liffey), 1978 Trout Rising, 1978

See also Irish art List of Irish artists

References