Page 15 - Whyte'sIrishart

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The Jim O’Driscoll Collection WHYTESS I N C E 1 7 8 3
,
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Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994)
WATER ON A PLOUGHED FIELD, c.1976
oil on canvas
signed lower left; inscribed with title on reverse
28.50 by 36in. (72.39 by 91.44cm)
Provenance:
Tom Caldwell Galleries, Dublin
Exhibited:
‘Patrick Collins’, Tom Caldwell Galleries, Dublin, until 30 November 1976,
catalogue no. 23
Although Patrick Collins sometimes paints other subjects, landscape
dominates his art. He had an afnity with nature that began in his Sligo
childhood and which eventually formed the foundation for his painting.
Boyhood memories fed his art; he saw the bogs, earth, rocks and stones of
the landscape as a physical link with his own youth as well as uniting the
contemporary Celt with the ancients.
Collins always interpreted the landscape in an abstractly poetic way, but
in the late 1960s excessive sentimentality and formlessness began to
creep into the work. However, after working for nine months digging
drainage ditches in Connemara he produced a remarkable series of
austere bog pictures in 1970 which demonstrated a newly-found vigour.
Although Water on a Ploughed Field was frst exhibited in 1976, its style
suggests that it may have been painted around the same time as the bog
pictures rather than during his stay in France from 1971-76. This painting
strips away inessentials with the exceptional boldness that characterised
his work of 1970. It shows an elemental absorption with land, with
moisture impregnating the entire picture and light bouncing of the
surface water. The restrained composition sets a few strong lines against
an animated void – Collins wanted to make empty spaces ‘talk.’ Water on
Ploughed Field does talk to the viewer, poignantly expressing the
loneliness and isolation Collins felt during this period.
Frances Ruane HRHA
April, 2012
€10,000-€15,000 (£8,196-£12,295 approx).