WHYTE'S IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART 6 JUNE 2022 AT 6PM

102 74 Basil Blackshaw HRHA RUA (1932-2016) PENELOPE COLLINS oil on canvas signed twice lower right; with Tom Caldwell Gallery label on reverse 24 by 20in. (61 by 50.8cm) Frame Dimensions: 27.5 by 24in. (69.9 by 61cm) Provenance: Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, 1976; Private collection Although not best known as a portrait painter, Basil Blackshaw was an exceptionally fine one, and much in demand. In fact, Brian Fallon wrote that if he was known only for his portraits, he would still be a major figure in Irish painting. As an artist, he disdained formality, and his approach to portraiture, as to everything else he painted, was informal, almost conversational. Besides many commissioned subjects, including notable cultural figures, he was moved to paint those who interested him. That includes his regular model, Jude Stephens, and others. The subject here, Penelope Collins, was a subject he painted out of interest. He liked and respected Patrick Collins’ work, and Vincent Ferguson, who was a keen supporter of both artists, was a point of connection between them. Penelope is the daughter of Patrick and Patricia Collins. Collins confirmed his status as an established artist in Dublin with his first solo show at the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery in 1956. He was already well known around town: a fan of Ulysses, he had originally aspired to be a writer but gradually came around to painting. Dark, handsome and fiercely independent, he fell in love with dancer and choreographer Patricia Ryan (nee Kinneen). Their relationship broke up her marriage with the well-known writer and publisher John Ryan, another noted Joyce enthusiast and proprietor of The Bailey. Collins, stubborn and decidedly undomestic, could be a difficult person to live with, and their marriage was tempestuous. Their daughter Penelope, who inherited the striking, dark looks of both her parents, herself became an artist. Her exhibition Ballet in a Hatbox - 1943, A Dance Odyssey drew on her research into her mother’s life as a teacher and dancer in the 1940s. Aidan Dunne May 2022 €10,000-€15,000 (£8,550-£12,820 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot74