Patrick (1910) Collins Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Patrick (1910) Collins Art Value Price Guide

May. 27, 2026
Patrick Collins RHA (1911-1994) Landscape with Cottage (1965) Oil on board 40 x 50cm (15¾ x 19½) Signed Provenance: With The Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, label verso; Collection Patrick J. Murphy, Dublin; with Peppercannister Gallery, Dubli
Est: €7,000 - €10,000
Patrick Collins RHA (1911-1994) Landscape with Cottage (1965) Oil on board 40 x 50cm (15¾ x 19½) Signed Provenance: With The Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, label verso; Collection Patrick J. Murphy, Dublin; with Peppercannister Gallery, Dublin, label verso; with The Frederick Gallery, Dublin, label verso, from whom purchased by the present owner.
Adam's
May. 25, 2026
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) DUBLIN BAY, 1963
Est: €10,000 - €15,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) DUBLIN BAY, 1963 oil on board signed lower right; with Ritchie Hendriks Gallery label on reverse h:24 w:30 in. Provenance: Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, 1964; Private collection; Whyte's, 29 November 2021, lot 46; Private collection Exhibited: Possibly in the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, 1963, under the title Summer's Evening, Dublin Bay; Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, 1964; Patrick Collins Retrospective, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, 1982 This is a striking, atmospheric painting that captures a significant shift in the work of Patrick Collins, one of the foremost Irish artists of the 20th century. The composition is close to that of Bridge and Trees, painted a year earlier, a notably more expressionist, agitated and, as Dr Frances Ruane noted, 'Yeatsian' painting. In Dublin Bay, Collins has moved decisively towards a calm, atmospheric evocation of space - a hallmark of his mature style. The impressively rugged-looking mounds of the trees dominate the dark foreground and partly obscure the distant north shore of the bay, sparkling with lights in the encroaching dusk, evident in the subtle grey halo that frames the composition. Mist from the sea softens the outline of Howth Head and merges sea and sky. The use of intractable sculptural masses, together with layered expanses of generally muted colour charged with a degree of luminosity, comprise the essence of Collins' approach from this point onwards. Born in Dromore West in Sligo, Collins was substantially formed by his early years of freedom running wild in the rural landscape. He felt understandably constrained as a teenage boarder at St Vincent's Orphanage in Glasnevin and subsequently, working as a clerk in Dublin, and he gravitated towards literature and art, idolising Joyce. Living for a time in a tower in Howth Castle, he aspired to write and took art lessons. By the early 1950s he felt he was finding his voice through painting and his first solo show at the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery in 1956 was very successful. In his paintings he managed, without a hint of nostalgia, to convey the essence of an Ireland mythical and real, ancient and modern. He was instinctively attuned to the atmospherics of bogland and ocean, and the misty, watery Irish light. A private, even reclusive man, he almost shunned publicity during his lifetime but has long been recognised as a major Irish painter. Aidan Dunne
Whyte's
Mar. 25, 2026
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Still Life Oil on canvas, 52 x 60cm (20½ x 23½'') Signed Provenance: Collection of Ib Jorgensen
Est: €1,500 - €2,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Still Life Oil on canvas, 52 x 60cm (20½ x 23½'') Signed Provenance: Collection of Ib Jorgensen
Adam's
Mar. 25, 2026
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Beyond the Bog Oil on board, 89 x 112cm (35 x 44'') Signed Provenance: With Tom Caldwell Galleries, Dublin and Belfast, July 1979, where acquired by Vincent Ferguson; with Jorgensen Gallery, Dublin Be
Est: €7,000 - €10,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Beyond the Bog Oil on board, 89 x 112cm (35 x 44'') Signed Provenance: With Tom Caldwell Galleries, Dublin and Belfast, July 1979, where acquired by Vincent Ferguson; with Jorgensen Gallery, Dublin Beyond the Bog clearly illustrates the importance of Patrick Collins, the bravery that separates him from the conservatism that dominated Irish art of his generation. Here we see how he was able to celebrate something completely indigenous (in this case, an Irish bog) without any trace of sentimentality. His great achievement was doing this with a unique personal style that’s immediately recognisable, but one which has unequivocally embraced international abstraction. At the end of the 1960s, when Collins began to feel that his paintings were suffering from sentimentality, he left Dublin for Connemara in a conscious effort to refresh his approach. Working for nine months in 1970 digging drainage ditches provided the stimulus to paint an important series of bog paintings, like this one. Because bogs are so closely associated with Ireland, they appealed to Collins as part of his search for subject matter that was truly local. In Beyond the Bog, Collins returned to an elemental absorption with the land. The painting is focused on the bog: its moisture, the wet density of it, the light and reflection of sky bouncing off the surface. The renewed vigour of this series came at a critical point in his development. A few strong shapes anchor these austere paintings, where Inessentials were stripped away with exceptional boldness—no trace of trees, cows or people. In Beyond the Bog’s simple and powerful composition a few strong bars are set against empty space. A strong directional pull is established between the two verticals at either side and between the horizontal bars top and bottom, animating the space in between. The central ‘swish’ sets the composition in motion. Collins wanted his empty spaces to “speak.” They certainly do that in Beyond the Bog, where loneliness and isolation are expressed with a touching poignancy. Dr Frances Ruane, HRHA, August 2025
Adam's
Mar. 09, 2026
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) MENHIRS
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) MENHIRS oil on board signed lower right; titled and dated on Ritchie Hendriks Gallery label and with Apollo Gallery stamp on reverse h:11.75 w:18 in. Provenance: Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, 1961; Collection of Sam Edgar; James Adam, Dublin, March 1986, lot 87; Private collection; Whyte's, 20 September 2005, lot 103; with Apollo Gallery, Dublin; Private collection Exhibited: Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, August 1961 Patrick Collins' travels to Brittany, France, in the late 1950s influenced and inspired a new series of paintings depicting menhirs, large elongated Neolitic stones. Visiting the Carmac stones, one of Brittany's largest megalithic sites, Collins, while in his Expressionist phase, painted the famous Celtic rocks with different approaches and angles each time. This new body of works was unveiled in his first one man show with the David Hendriks Gallery, in Dublin, in August 1961.
Whyte's
Feb. 24, 2026
PATRICK COLLINS HRHA (1910 - 1994)
Est: €1,200 - €1,500
Title: Glass with Cut Flowers (1990) Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed and Dated Lower Left Provenance: Duke Street Gallery, Dublin (Label Verso); The Apollo Gallery, Dublin, Where acquired by the present owner Framed PICTURES AND PRINTS Tuesday 24th February 2026 20:33:36
Sheppards
Dec. 01, 2025
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) DUBLIN BAY, 1963
Est: €12,000 - €18,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) DUBLIN BAY, 1963 oil on board signed lower right; with Ritchie Hendriks Gallery label on reverse h:24 w:30 in. Provenance: Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, 1964; Private collection; Whyte's, 29 November 2021, lot 46; Private collection Exhibited: Possibly in the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, 1963, under the title Summer's Evening, Dublin Bay; Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, 1964; Patrick Collins Retrospective, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, 1982 This is a striking, atmospheric painting that captures a significant shift in the work of Patrick Collins, one of the foremost Irish artists of the 20th century. The composition is close to that of Bridge and Trees, painted a year earlier, a notably more expressionist, agitated and, as Dr Frances Ruane noted, 'Yeatsian' painting. In Dublin Bay, Collins has moved decisively towards a calm, atmospheric evocation of space - a hallmark of his mature style. The impressively rugged-looking mounds of the trees dominate the dark foreground and partly obscure the distant north shore of the bay, sparkling with lights in the encroaching dusk, evident in the subtle grey halo that frames the composition. Mist from the sea softens the outline of Howth Head and merges sea and sky. The use of intractable sculptural masses, together with layered expanses of generally muted colour charged with a degree of luminosity, comprise the essence of Collins' approach from this point onwards. Born in Dromore West in Sligo, Collins was substantially formed by his early years of freedom running wild in the rural landscape. He felt understandably constrained as a teenage boarder at St Vincent's Orphanage in Glasnevin and subsequently, working as a clerk in Dublin, and he gravitated towards literature and art, idolising Joyce. Living for a time in a tower in Howth Castle, he aspired to write and took art lessons. By the early 1950s he felt he was finding his voice through painting and his first solo show at the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery in 1956 was very successful. In his paintings he managed, without a hint of nostalgia, to convey the essence of an Ireland mythical and real, ancient and modern. He was instinctively attuned to the atmospherics of bogland and ocean, and the misty, watery Irish light. A private, even reclusive man, he almost shunned publicity during his lifetime but has long been recognised as a major Irish painter. Aidan Dunne
Whyte's
Nov. 26, 2025
Patrick Collins RHA (1911-1994) Landscape with Cottage (1965) Oil on board 40 x 50cm (15¾ x 19½) Signed Provenance: With The Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, label verso; Collection Patrick J. Murphy, Dublin; with Peppercannister Gallery, Dubli
Est: €10,000 - €15,000
Patrick Collins RHA (1911-1994) Landscape with Cottage (1965) Oil on board 40 x 50cm (15¾ x 19½) Signed Provenance: With The Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, label verso; Collection Patrick J. Murphy, Dublin; with Peppercannister Gallery, Dublin, label verso; with The Frederick Gallery, Dublin, label verso, from whom purchased by the present owner.
Adam's
Oct. 17, 2025
Patrick T. Collins Oil on Canvasboard H 18" W 24" Frame Size: H 25" W 31"
Est: $300 - $500
Signed lower right. Dimensions: H 18" W 24" Frame Size: H 25" W 31"
DuMouchelles
Sep. 29, 2025
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) SEA WOMAN, 1962
Est: €3,000 - €5,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) SEA WOMAN, 1962 oil on board signed and dated lower right; with original Ritchie Hendriks Gallery label on reverse h:14 w:12 in. Provenance: Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, July 1965; Private collection; Whyte's, 18 May 2009, lot 48; Private collection; Whyte's, 27 May 2013, lot 18; Private collection In 1963 a work entitled Head of Girl was exhibited at the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery in May, catalogue no. 20. It is possible that this work, Sea Woman, 1962, was exhibited under a different title considering its date of execution and subject matter. The Ritchie Hendriks Gallery also hosted another exhibition of thirty-four works by Collins from 24 June to 19 July 1965, while this date would correspond with the gallery label on the reverse of the work, there was no similarly titled piece exhibited at this show.
Whyte's
Sep. 24, 2025
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Celtic Beasts Oil on canvas, 68 x 74cm (26¾ x 29) Signed Provenance: with Tom Caldwell Galleries, Dublin where purchased by the current owner
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Celtic Beasts Oil on canvas, 68 x 74cm (26¾ x 29) Signed Provenance: with Tom Caldwell Galleries, Dublin where purchased by the current owner
Adam's
Sep. 24, 2025
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Still Life Oil on canvas, 52 x 60cm (20½ x 23½'') Signed Provenance: The Collection of Ib Jorgensen
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Still Life Oil on canvas, 52 x 60cm (20½ x 23½'') Signed Provenance: The Collection of Ib Jorgensen
Adam's
Sep. 24, 2025
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Beyond the Bog Oil on board, 89 x 112cm (35 x 44'') Signed Provenance: With Tom Caldwell Galleries, Dublin and Belfast, July 1979, where acquired by Vincent Ferguson; with Jorgensen Gallery, Dublin Be
Est: €10,000 - €15,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Beyond the Bog Oil on board, 89 x 112cm (35 x 44'') Signed Provenance: With Tom Caldwell Galleries, Dublin and Belfast, July 1979, where acquired by Vincent Ferguson; with Jorgensen Gallery, Dublin Beyond the Bog clearly illustrates the importance of Patrick Collins, the bravery that separates him from the conservatism that dominated Irish art of his generation. Here we see how he was able to celebrate something completely indigenous (in this case, an Irish bog) without any trace of sentimentality. His great achievement was doing this with a unique personal style that’s immediately recognisable, but one which has unequivocally embraced international abstraction. At the end of the 1960s, when Collins began to feel that his paintings were suffering from sentimentality, he left Dublin for Connemara in a conscious effort to refresh his approach. Working for nine months in 1970 digging drainage ditches provided the stimulus to paint an important series of bog paintings, like this one. Because bogs are so closely associated with Ireland, they appealed to Collins as part of his search for subject matter that was truly local. In Beyond the Bog, Collins returned to an elemental absorption with the land. The painting is focused on the bog: its moisture, the wet density of it, the light and reflection of sky bouncing off the surface. The renewed vigour of this series came at a critical point in his development. A few strong shapes anchor these austere paintings, where Inessentials were stripped away with exceptional boldness—no trace of trees, cows or people. In Beyond the Bog’s simple and powerful composition a few strong bars are set against empty space. A strong directional pull is established between the two verticals at either side and between the horizontal bars top and bottom, animating the space in between. The central ‘swish’ sets the composition in motion. Collins wanted his empty spaces to “speak.” They certainly do that in Beyond the Bog, where loneliness and isolation are expressed with a touching poignancy. Dr Frances Ruane, HRHA, August 2025
Adam's
Sep. 16, 2025
PATRICK COLLINS HRHA (1910 - 1994)
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
Title: Glass with Cut Flowers (1990) Medium: Oil on Board Signature: Signed and Dated Lower Left Provenance: Duke Street Gallery, Dublin (Label Verso); The Apollo Gallery, Dublin, Where acquired by the Present Owner Framed Lot Description: Patrick Collins HRHA (1911–1994), Still Life with Flowers, Oil on Board, signed lower left. A delicate and atmospheric composition featuring a loosely rendered floral arrangement in pale pinks, greens, and soft crimson, set against a muted blue-grey background. Executed with Collins’ characteristic sensitivity to light and tone, the work conveys an ethereal quality. Mounted and framed in a white double-lined mat within a white painted frame. PICTURES AND PRINTS Tuesday 16th September 2025 19:35:50
Sheppards
Sep. 16, 2025
PATRICK COLLINS HRHA (1910 - 1994)
Est: €800 - €1,200
Title: Shell (1990) Medium: Lithograph No. 63/70 Signature: Signed and Dated '90 Lower Right Provenance: Duke Street Gallery, Dublin (Label Verso); Private Collection Framed Lot Description: Patrick Collins HRHA (1910–1994), Shell, limited edition lithograph, signed and dated 1990 lower right, numbered 63/70 lower left. A contemplative abstract composition featuring a large organic spiral form outlined in earthy browns and ochres, with a vivid red centre. Executed in Collins’s recognisable lyrical and symbolic visual language, the piece evokes themes of ancient stone carvings, Irish myth, and landscape memory. Float-mounted and framed in a soft white and gilt frame. PICTURES AND PRINTS Tuesday 16th September 2025 19:14:10
Sheppards
May. 26, 2025
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) IRELAND'S EYE FROM HOWTH CASTLE, DUBLIN
Est: €2,500 - €3,500
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) IRELAND'S EYE FROM HOWTH CASTLE, DUBLIN oil on board signed lower left; with Apollo Gallery labels on reverse h:8.50 w:10.25 in. Provenance: Apollo Gallery, Dublin, 2011; Private collection This lot will be subject to 13.5% Import VAT on the hammer price, in addition to the buyers' premium and VAT, unless exported out of the EU.
Whyte's
Mar. 03, 2025
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) TRAVELLING WOMAN, 1968
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) TRAVELLING WOMAN, 1968 oil on board signed lower right; titled and dated on Ritchie Hendriks Gallery label on reverse h:12 w:16 in. Provenance: Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, 1968; Private collection; Thence by descent to the present owner
Whyte's
Dec. 04, 2024
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Stony Hillside (1977) Oil on canvas, 32 x 32cm (12½ x 12½'') Signed Provenance: Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, label verso
Est: €3,000 - €5,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Stony Hillside (1977) Oil on canvas, 32 x 32cm (12½ x 12½'') Signed Provenance: Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast, label verso
Adam's
Dec. 02, 2024
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) SEA AND RAIN, 1978
Est: €7,000 - €10,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) SEA AND RAIN, 1978 oil on canvas signed and dated lower right; titled and with Tom Caldwell Gallery label on reverse h:20 w:24 in. Provenance: Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast; Private collection; Adam's, 9 December 2020, lot 86; Private collection
Whyte's
Dec. 02, 2024
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) NIGHT RAIDER
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) NIGHT RAIDER oil on canvas; (irregular) with Tom Caldwell Gallery label on reverse h:18 w:22 in. Provenance: Tom Caldwell Gallery, Dublin; Private collection
Whyte's
Dec. 02, 2024
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) SALMON OF KNOWLEDGE, 1984
Est: €8,000 - €12,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) SALMON OF KNOWLEDGE, 1984 oil on canvas signed and dated lower right h:34 w:42.50 in. Provenance: Apollo Gallery, Dublin, c.1988; Private collection In the late 1970s, Patrick Collins returned to settle in Ireland after being based in France for six years or so. Renowned as a painter of an almost mythical rural Ireland, of bogland and water, smallholdings and livestock, everything moulded by a soft, misty light, he had during his time in France developed a renewed interest in line. This stemmed largely from his growing appreciation of Chinese painting. The work he made suggests that he identified with the importance it placed on empty space in a composition, and its calligraphic immediacy. These qualities are evident in this lively, kinetic treatment of a staple of Irish myth, the story of the legendary salmon that was the repository of all the knowledge in the world, and the young Fionn Mac Cumhaill. Collins concentrates on the salmon or, perhaps, salmon plural, as the leaping form of the fish to the right is echoed across the expanse of the composition in an evocation of flowing water, striving and energy. Patterns of movement generated by both fish and water are formalised in crisp, curling lines. The painting is a celebration of nature and natural processes. The artist's boyhood experience of running wild in the Sligo countryside imbued him with a lifelong love of the natural world, animals and rural life. These feelings were perhaps accentuated by teenage years spent in an orphanage in Dublin. When he went on to work as an insurance clerk in the city, he nurtured ambitions to be a writer, even as he tentatively explored an alternative artist path, visiting the Municipal Gallery and trying his hand at painting. From 1950, he exhibited at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, leading to a solo show at the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery. He was recognised as a major voice in contemporary Irish painting and an exceptional interpreter of the Irish landscape and character. His work is represented in all the major public and private collections. In 1987 he became the first member of Aosdána to be honoured as a Saoi. The following year Trinity conferred an honorary doctorate. Aidan Dunne, November 2024
Whyte's
Nov. 26, 2024
Â§ PATRICK COLLINS (IRISH, 1911-1994)
Est: £3,000 - £5,000
Â§ PATRICK COLLINS (IRISH, 1911-1994) PATRICK COLLINS (IRISH, 1911-1994) Irelands Eye from Howth Castle signed 'P.Collins' (lower left) oil on board 35.5 x 29.5 cm. (14 x 11 5/8 in) Provenance With Apollo Gallery, Dublin, 9 July 2011, where purchased by the present owner
Chiswick Auctions
Sep. 30, 2024
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) BOATS PULLED UP, 1978
Est: €5,000 - €7,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) BOATS PULLED UP, 1978 oil on board signed and dated lower right; titled and with Tom Caldwell Gallery label on reverse h:12 w:16 in. Provenance: Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast; Private collection
Whyte's
Sep. 30, 2024
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) UNTITLED, 1984
Est: €6,000 - €8,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) UNTITLED, 1984 oil on canvas laid on board signed and dated lower right h:16 w:20 in.
Whyte's
Sep. 30, 2024
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) LAKE RIVER, c.1967
Est: €7,000 - €9,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) LAKE RIVER, c.1967 oil on board signed lower right; with Ritchie Hendriks Gallery label on reverse h:13.50 w:19 in. Provenance: Ritchie Hendricks Gallery, Dublin; Collection of W. Brown Esq.; Private collection
Whyte's
Sep. 25, 2024
Patrick Collins RHA (1911-1994) Still Life Oil on canvas, 52 x 60cm (20_ x 23_) Signed
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
Patrick Collins RHA (1911-1994) Still Life Oil on canvas, 52 x 60cm (20_ x 23_) Signed
Adam's
May. 27, 2024
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) DESERTED COTTAGES, c.1973
Est: €3,000 - €5,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) DESERTED COTTAGES, c.1973 oil on board signed lower right; with David Hendriks Gallery label on reverse h:8 w:12 in. Provenance: David Hendriks Gallery, Dublin; Collection of John Montague; Gifted to the mother of the present owner
Whyte's
May. 27, 2024
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) RELEASE MONA LISA, 1986
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) RELEASE MONA LISA, 1986 oil on canvas; (irregular) signed, titled and dated lower centre h:24 w:27 in.
Whyte's
Mar. 27, 2024
Patrick Collins HRHA, (1911-1994) Spring Morning (1957) Oil on board, 91.5 x 122cm (36 x 48) Signed Provenance: Collection of Sir Basil Goulding, thence by descent to the current owner. Exhibited: Dublin, IELA 1957, cat. no. 6; Dubli
Est: €30,000 - €50,000
Patrick Collins HRHA, (1911-1994) Spring Morning (1957) Oil on board, 91.5 x 122cm (36 x 48) Signed Provenance: Collection of Sir Basil Goulding, thence by descent to the current owner. Exhibited: Dublin, IELA 1957, cat. no. 6; Dublin, Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, April 1959, Patrick Collins, cat. no. 18; New York, Wollman Hall, Twelve Irish Painters, Oct/Nov 1963, cat. no.18; Dublin, ROSC 1971, Irish Imagination, cat. no.18; Dublin, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, Patrick Collins Retrospective, 1982, cat. no. 9, later touring to The Ulster Museum, Belfast and The Crawford Gallery, Cork. Patrick Collins is recognised as being a key figure in the semi-abstract poetic genre that characterised post-war Irish art. Spring Morning has the soft grey light, the atmospheric quality, and the feeling of moisture that we associate with this artist and which is completely compatible with the Irish countryside. The painting marked a significant leap in Collinss developmentthe composition is more complex, and the brushstrokes bolder and more gestural. His use of colour is also more varied, with pale lemons and creams, interspersed with slivers of pink, set against the subdued blues and greys that previously dominated his work . Here he infused the surface with new found energy and liveliness. Like its companion piece, Moorland Water, Collins pushed abstraction to much greater limits than ever before. Spring Morning is a buoyant, fresh, light-filled vision of spring, with gusts of wind seeming to blow through the picture, setting the forms in motion. The cottage fuses with the surrounding countryside like so many parts of a jigsaw puzzle locking together on the surface. However, the visual excitement of the piece comes with the composition seeming to explode outwardly, threatening to break out of the rectangle. There is a dramatic U-shape which runs down the right side of the cottage, breaking out of the rectangles lower edge, and then bending upward. Although Collins has embraced abstraction, the subject of the picture remains unmistakable. The artist avoided an obviously picturesque view as he tried, instead, to get closer to capturing the sensations inspired by nature. Within this protective womb-like shape we find a place imbued with life. We can sense the freedom Collins experienced as a young boy who explored the rivers, lakes, fields and woods around Sligo. Typical of Collins, the motif doesnt extend to the edges of the canvas but floats within a painted frame that deliberately separates it from the present. The artist draws on memory, where details are isolated, condensed, merged and blurred, but where the essence of the recollection is communicated. Collinss vigorous brushwork, the deliberately flattened picture space, and his movement towards increased abstraction suggest that he was influenced by Abstract Expressionism, which dominated the international art world of the 1950s. However, like his Irish contemporaries, he was reluctant to embrace total abstraction. He loved his trees and stones, believing that you lose something important if you completely let go of the seen world. He once said to Brian Lynch: Naturenature is an awful word but what the hell can you saytheres so much outside that if you dont use it youre a fool. Dr Frances Ruane HRHA, February 2024
Adam's
Mar. 11, 2024
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) BEYOND THE BOG, 1970
Est: €15,000 - €20,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) BEYOND THE BOG, 1970 oil on board signed lower right; inscribed with artist, title, medium and dimensions on Tom Caldwell Galleries label on reverse h:36 w:48 in. Provenance: Caldwell Galleries, Dublin; Where purchased by Vincent Ferguson; Thence by descent; de Veres, 22 June 2021, lot 59; Private collection Exhibited: 'Patrick Collins', Tom Caldwell Galleries, Dublin & Belfast, July, 1979 Worried that his paintings began to suffer from sentimentality, Patrick Collins retreated from Dublin to Connemara at the end of the 1960s in a conscious effort to refresh his approach. Working for nine months in 1970 digging drainage ditches was the stimulus he needed, directly resulting in an important series of bog paintings, like this one. And because bogs are so closely associated with Ireland, they appealed to Collins as part of his search for subject matter that was truly indigenous. The renewed vigour found in this series came at a critical point in his development. He used a few strong shapes to anchor these austere compositions, stripping away inessentials with exceptional boldness. Beyond the Bog shows clearly how Collins returned to an elemental absorption with the land. The painting is focused on the bog, without a trace of trees, cows, or people. We feel its moisture, the wet density of it, the light and reflection of sky bouncing off the surface. The composition of Beyond the Bog is simple and powerful: a few strong bars set against empty space. A strong directional pull is established between the two verticals at either side and between the horizontal bars top and bottom, animating the space in between. The central 'swish' sets the composition in motion. Collins began his initial exploration of empty, or 'negative', space in the early 1960s but in the Bog paintings voids are used for even greater emotional effect. Collins wanted his empty spaces to "speak." They certainly do that in Beyond the Bog, where loneliness and isolation are expressed with a touching poignancy. Dr Frances Ruane, HRHA February 2024
Whyte's
Oct. 02, 2023
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) NORMANDY LANDSCAPE WITH DESERTED BARN, 1974
Est: €10,000 - €15,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) NORMANDY LANDSCAPE WITH DESERTED BARN, 1974 oil on canvas signed and dated lower right; titled and with Tom Caldwell Gallery label on reverse h:21 w:25 in. Provenance: Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast; Private collection At a certain point, Paris loomed large in the imagination of Patrick Collins. In many ways the most quintessentially Irish of painters, with a profound sympathy for the rural landscape - bogland, smallholdings, lakes - and even for the watery Irish light, his first love had been literature. Having come through unhappy years in St Vincent's Orphanage he worked as a clerk in Dublin, lived in a bedsit and read voraciously. Joyce particularly impressed him. Moving to a tower in Howth Castle, he began trying to write but, the more he visited galleries, the more he found he was becoming increasingly interested in painting. From 1950 he began to exhibit his work and his first, extremely successful, solo show was at the Ritchie Hendrik's Gallery in 1956. Despite being well established and highly regarded in Ireland, he felt a little hemmed in by the insularity of the local scene and, in 1971, thought he would try Paris, an international creative hub, which he had previously visited. He wasn't particularly looking for anything, it was more to get away for a while, "and look at things from outside," as he put it to Des Moore. In the event, his time in Paris was tough and unproductive. He later recounted how he would trek across the city to call on poet John Montague, hoping he'd be at home and would offer him a meal. Then, in 1973, he moved on to live in a farmhouse in Orne, Normandy, a rural setting more to his taste, and began to paint steadily again. This painting dates from that relatively contented period. The barn became his studio. Sligo was his idealised notion of home from childhood on, and that sense, of home and belonging in the landscape, carries through strongly here. The band of trees seem to enfold and protect the barn and, particularly, the distant farmhouse. Aidan Dunne, September 2023
Whyte's
Oct. 02, 2023
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) MOON OVER THE LAKE
Est: €5,000 - €7,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) MOON OVER THE LAKE oil on board signed lower right; with Tom Caldwell Gallery label on reverse h:11 w:14 in. Provenance: Tom Caldwell Gallery, Belfast; Private collection A beautiful, dreamy view of a moonlit lake, compact but with tremendous sense of scale and airiness. Collins excelled at distilling the essence of the Irish landscape, misty, amorphous spaces, watery grey light and the emblematic recurrence of certain motifs: stones, rushes and reeds, boundary walls, isolated homesteads. With just a few basic elements, he conjures up a whole atmospheric world. Aidan Dunne, September 2023
Whyte's
Oct. 02, 2023
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) CLOUD ON THE HILL, DONEGAL
Est: €6,000 - €8,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) CLOUD ON THE HILL, DONEGAL oil on board signed lower right; titled on reverse h:12 w:14 in. A glittering, transient vision of a landscape at a moment in time, animated by darts of fast-changing, alternating patches of brightness and rain as the weather moves briskly over the scene, typical of the quicksilver quality of light on the western coast. The whole surface of the painting is lively and energetic. Aidan Dunne, September 2023
Whyte's
May. 29, 2023
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) RELEASE MONA LISA, 1986
Est: €3,000 - €5,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) RELEASE MONA LISA, 1986 oil on canvas; (irregular) signed, titled and dated lower centre h:24 w:27 in.
Whyte's
May. 29, 2023
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) FLOWERPIECE NO. 1, c.1967
Est: €4,000 - €6,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) FLOWERPIECE NO. 1, c.1967 oil on board signed lower right; with Ritchie Hendriks Gallery label on reverse h:9 w:12 in. Provenance: Ritchie Hendricks Gallery, Dublin; Whence purchased, May 1967, by M. Erlanger; Art Collection of David Erlanger and Jean Wilter, Litchfield Auctions, 28 February 2023, lot 26; Private collection
Whyte's
Mar. 06, 2023
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) MOONRISE ON THE LAKE
Est: €12,000 - €18,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) MOONRISE ON THE LAKE oil on canvas signed lower left; titled on reverse h:26 w:37 in. Patrick Collins occupies a singular position in 20th century Irish art. On the one hand, his work is exceptionally, undeniably Irish. He was fond of using the term Celtic as a general description, without strictly defining it or getting hung up about it. On the other hand, while his paintings reflect aspects of the Irish landscape, environment and character, he was a man apart, who didn't identify with any school or movement. But his instincts were infallibly attuned to the atmospherics of the moisture-laden Irish light, endless tracts of bogland and stony hillsides, and the stark, existential plight of those, human and animal, on rural small-holdings. What he managed to do was to paint an almost mythical Ireland, but one rooted in the real. His colours are muddied, misty, dreamy. Motifs assert themselves with a stubborn, rugged presence. A roll-call of those motifs incudes, variously, stones, pools, a bird, an animal, a cottage and, as here, the moon. Usually, compositions occupy a kind of frame with a frame, as though the painting is a vision conjured up from a primordial mist. That is subtly the case in this painting, in which the light of the rising moon has a stark, definitive clarity to it. Born in Dromore West in Sligo, Collins ran wild in nature as a child and then, in his teens, had to cope with life in an orphanage. While the regime was not, by his own account, harsh, he felt imprisoned, and remained ever after resistant to institutional authority. Working as a clerk, he lived in a tower in Howth Castle and aspired to be a writer, only gradually coming around to painting. In his later work he became increasingly interested in the use of line, largely, he explained, because of his growing respect for traditional Chinese painting. Aidan Dunne, February 2023
Whyte's
Feb. 28, 2023
PATRICK COLLINS - FLOWERPIECE - O/B
Est: $5,000 - $8,000
Patrick Collins, Ireland, 1910/11-1994, Flowerpiece no. 01, oil on panel, signed lower right, Verso labeled The Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, May 1967
Litchfield Auctions
Sep. 28, 2022
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) Old lady in window Oil on Canvas, 25.5 x 30.5cm (10 x 12) Signed Provenance: With Tom Caldwell Gallery, label verso.
Est: €2,500 - €3,500
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) Old lady in window Oil on Canvas, 25.5 x 30.5cm (10 x 12) Signed Provenance: With Tom Caldwell Gallery, label verso.
Adam's
Jun. 01, 2022
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) Mallard Oil on canvas, 20 x 25cm (7¾ x 9¾'') Signed lower right
Est: €1,500 - €2,500
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) Mallard Oil on canvas, 20 x 25cm (7¾ x 9¾'') Signed lower right
Adam's
Jun. 01, 2022
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910 - 1994) Vase of flowers Mixed media, 19.5 x 15cm (7½ x 6) Signed and dated (19)'90
Est: €800 - €1,200
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910 - 1994) Vase of flowers Mixed media, 19.5 x 15cm (7½ x 6) Signed and dated (19)'90
Adam's
Mar. 30, 2022
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) Fig Tree 1 Crayon 18 x 20cm (7¼ x 7¾) Signed Provenance: with the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, Private Collection
Est: €750 - €1,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) Fig Tree 1 Crayon 18 x 20cm (7¼ x 7¾) Signed Provenance: with the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, Private Collection
Adam's
Mar. 30, 2022
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Mountainside, Wicklow Oil on board, 30 x 40cm (11¾ x 15¾'') Signed
Est: €5,000 - €7,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1911-1994) Mountainside, Wicklow Oil on board, 30 x 40cm (11¾ x 15¾'') Signed
Adam's
Mar. 07, 2022
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) TEA THINGS, 1977
Est: €2,000 - €3,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) TEA THINGS, 1977 oil on canvas signed and dated lower left; with Tom Caldwell Gallery label on reverse h:10 w:9 in.
Whyte's
Dec. 08, 2021
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) Water Lilies Oil on canvas, 40 x 43cm (15¾ x 17'') Signed Provenance: Sale, Whyte's, Dublin, 21/09/2004, lot 115.
Est: €10,000 - €15,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) Water Lilies Oil on canvas, 40 x 43cm (15¾ x 17'') Signed Provenance: Sale, Whyte's, Dublin, 21/09/2004, lot 115.
Adam's
Nov. 29, 2021
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) OLD LADY IN THE WINDOW
Est: €3,000 - €4,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) OLD LADY IN THE WINDOW oil on canvas signed lower right; with Tom Caldwell Gallery label on reverse h:10 w:12 in.
Whyte's
Nov. 29, 2021
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) DUBLIN BAY, 1963
Est: €15,000 - €20,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) DUBLIN BAY, 1963 oil on board signed lower right h:24 w:30 in. Provenance: Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, 1964; Private collection Exhibited: Possibly in the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, 1963, under the title Summer's Evening, Dublin Bay); Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, 1964; Patrick Collins Retrospective, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, 1982 This is a striking, atmospheric painting that captures a significant shift in the work of Patrick Collins, one of the foremost Irish artists of the 20th century. The composition is close to that of Bridge and Trees, painted a year earlier, a notably more expressionist, agitated and, as Dr Frances Ruane noted, 'Yeatsian' painting. In Dublin Bay, Collins has moved decisively towards a calm, atmospheric evocation of space - a hallmark of his mature style. The impressively rugged-looking mounds of the trees dominate the dark foreground and partly obscure the distant north shore of the bay, sparkling with lights in the encroaching dusk, evident in the subtle grey halo that frames the composition. Mist from the sea softens the outline of Howth Head and merges sea and sky. The use of intractable sculptural masses, together with layered expanses of generally muted colour charged with a degree of luminosity, comprise the essence of Collins' approach from this point onwards. Born in Dromore West in Sligo, Collins was substantially formed by his early years of freedom running wild in the rural landscape. He felt understandably constrained as a teenage boarder at St Vincent's Orphanage in Glasnevin and subsequently, working as a clerk in Dublin, and he gravitated towards literature and art, idolising Joyce. Living for a time in a tower in Howth Castle, he aspired to write and took art lessons. By the early 1950s he felt he was finding his voice through painting and his first solo show at the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery in 1956 was very successful. In his paintings he managed, without a hint of nostalgia, to convey the essence of an Ireland mythical and real, ancient and modern. He was instinctively attuned to the atmospherics of bogland and ocean, and the misty, watery Irish light. A private, even reclusive man, he almost shunned publicity during his lifetime but has long been recognised as a major Irish painter. Aidan Dunne, November 2021
Whyte's
Nov. 29, 2021
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) TEA THINGS, 1977
Est: €3,000 - €4,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) TEA THINGS, 1977 oil on canvas signed and dated lower left; with Tom Caldwell Gallery label on reverse h:10 w:9 in.
Whyte's
Sep. 27, 2021
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) APPLES, 1961
Est: €10,000 - €15,000
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994) APPLES, 1961 oil on board with Ritchie Hendriks Gallery and Arts Council labels on reverse h:15.25 w:19.75 in. Provenance: Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, 1961; Collection of Sir Basil Goulding; Tom Caldwell Galleries, Dublin, 1982; Private collection Exhibited: Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, August 1971, catalogue no. 7; 'Irish Imagination', ROSC 1971, catalogue no. 14; ’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. 12 Sir William Basil Goulding (1909–1982) was an Irish cricketer, squash player, art collector and prominent businessman. Goulding was the founding Chairperson of the Contemporary Irish Art Society in 1962, along with Gordon Lambert, Cecil King, Stanley Mosse, James White and Michael Scott. The enthusiasm and vision of these founding members of the society was the catalyst which led to the development of many important art collections in Ireland. The purpose of the society was to encourage a greater level of patronage of living Irish artists which, at the time, was extremely low. This was mainly achieved by raising funds to purchase artworks by living artists, which were then donated to public collections. The first purchase in 1962 was an important painting by Patrick Scott, donated to the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art. Over the following 12 years the society purchased 37 works for the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, until in 1974, Dublin Corporation started to provide an annual purchasing fund for the gallery. Following a trip to Brittany, Patrick Collins exhibited his first paintings based on Bronze Age standing stones, menhirs, at the Ritchie Hendriks Gallery in 1961. They became a staple subject for him in the following years in a long, intermittent series of paintings. Given the nature and development of his work one can see why he was drawn to such durable stone presences in the landscape. This exceptional still life also featured in that show, from which it was purchased by Basil Goulding. Audaciously simple in its format, the stark, unadorned study of two apples is atmospherically rich in a way that is characteristic of Collins at his best. It has often been noted that he did not so much paint objects as the aura and spaces around them. Here, the overlapping central forms have a monumental, rugged density that complements the fruits' fragile transience, indicated by the flush of light and colour. Typically, the light seems to radiate from them, rather than falling upon them. As Collins paints them, they are as heroic and timeless as megaliths. Born in Dromore West in Sligo, Collins forever identified with his early years of freedom in the wild rural landscape. He was temperamentally unsuited to be a teenage boarder at St Vincent's Orphanage in Glasnevin. Later, working as a clerk in Dublin he gravitated towards the world of art and literature. Living in a tower in Howth Castle, he thought of writing and took art lessons. As he recalled, by the beginning of the 1950s he began to find his way in painting and had work accepted by the Irish Exhibition of Living Art. His first, very successful solo show at Ritchie Hendriks Gallery came in 1956. A quintessentially Irish artist, from early on his painting seems to evoke an Ireland both mythical and real, romanticised but rigorously unsentimental. Isolated subjects - from human figures to dwellings, fields to birds - emerge as if from a primordeal mist, stubbornly asserting themselves. A painting can visualise a whole world. A private, even reclusive man, Collins almost shunned publicity during his lifetime but has long been recognised as a central figure in 20th century Irish art.
Whyte's