6

Patrick Collins-DRUID'S MOON, 1981

Currency:EUR Category:Art / General - Paintings Start Price:0.00 EUR Estimated At:14,000.00 - 16,000.00 EUR
Patrick Collins-DRUID'S MOON, 1981

Bidding Over

The auction is over for this lot.
The auctioneer wasn't accepting online bids for this lot.

Contact the auctioneer for information on the auction results.

Search for other lots to bid on...
Auction Date:2012 May 21 @ 18:00 (UTC+1)
Location:Serpentine Hall, RDS, Anglesea Road entrance, Dublin, Dublin, ., Ireland
Patrick Collins-DRUID'S MOON, 1981

oil on canvassigned and dated lower left; with inscribed Arts Council exhibition label on reverse; also with typed Sligo Art Gallery exhibition label on reverse
32 by 38in., 81.28 by 96.52cm.
Orientation of Image: L

Provenance: Collection of the artist

Exhibited: ’Patrick Collins: Retrospective Exhibition’, Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, touring exhibition, Cork, Dublin and Belfast, 1982, catalogue no. 84 (loaned by the Artist); 'Patrick Collins', Sligo Art Gallery, 27 March - 21 April, 1985

Literature: Frances Ruane, Patrick Collins, An Chomhairle Ealaíon/The Arts Council, Dublin; The Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast , 1982, pp.92 (illustrated) pp.113 (listed)

Notes: After living in France for six years, Collins returned to Ireland in 1977 and produced some remarkable work for an exhibition in 1979. The canvases increased in size, the colour became more complex and the gestures became rounder and more active. After a brief period when personal and financial difficulties made it impossible for him to paint, he received assistance from the Arts Council and from friends in 1980 and was able to pick up where he left off. The dynamism and sweeping movement typical of paintings done around this time can be seen in Druid's Moon. Collins pivots the composition around a central point, the paint is applied with gusto and the serenity of the 1960s and '70s has given way to a livelier, more ebullient mood. In Druid's Moon Collins returns to using a 'frame within a frame' device, the main body of the painting hovering within a rectangle. It has the effect of isolating the subject from the reality of its surroundings, a self-contained vignette abstracted from a specific moment and place. However, in this painting the rectangle is incomplete and, together with the head-like moon, it suggests a figure whose arms are open in a comforting embrace. Collins had certainly achieved some stability in his life around this time and, with a major retrospective of his work planned for the following year, had finally received institutional approbation. It is not surprising to find this sense of security reflected in paintings like this one.
Frances Ruane HRHA
April 2012
Jim O'Driscoll was a renowned barrister by profession but also a passionate patron of the arts with a keen eye for beauty. Director of the Fenton Gallery in Cork for ten years, he built lasting ties with the arts community buying regularly from galleries throughout Ireland as well as from artists directly. His strong connections with Cork in particular are reflected in both his subject choice and his support for its native artists, among them, Maurice Desmond and Pat Connor. He was an early supporter and friend of Tony O'Malley and the late William Crozier and their paintings within his collection are testament to his access to the very best from their respective oeuvres. All the masters in Irish art from the eighties and nineties are well represented here, although some, for example those by Patrick Collins and Gerard Dillon, come from an earlier generation. This outstanding collection represents the powerful imprint of a true collector who was guided not only by his trained eye for quality but by a passion for interesting and authentic artworks.