Patrick Collins RHA HRHA (1910-1994) Moorland Water Oil on board, 91 x 121 cm (36 x 40'') Signed and dated 1957 Provenance: Formerly collection of Cecil King Exhibited: IELA 1957, cat. no. 14...

Patrick Collins RHA HRHA (1910-1994) Moorland Water Oil on board, 91 x 121 cm (36 x 40'') Signed and dated 1957 Provenance: Formerly collection of Cecil King Exhibited: IELA 1957, cat. no. 14 Patrick Collins Exhibition, Ritchie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, April 1959, cat. no. 12 Twelve Irish Painters Exhibition, Wollman Hall, New York, Oct/Nov 1963, cat. no. 5 Paintings & Sculpture from Private Collections in Ireland, Dublin 1965, cat. no. 20 where lent by the artist Cecil King Irish Imagination-ROSC 1971 Exhibition, cat. np. 16 (full page illustration page 51) Modern Irish Painting, Dublin 1971, cat. no. 4 Irish Art 1943-1`0973, Cork ROSC 1980, cat. no. 18 Patrick Collins Retrospective Exhibition, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, 1982, cat. no. 8 later touring to The Ulster Museum, Belfast and The Crawford Gallery, Cork Art Inc-Coth? Exhibition, Guinness Hop Store, Dublin, Apr/May 1991, cat. no. 31 Artist's Century Exhibition-Irish Self-Portraits and Selected Works 2000, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin and The Ormeau Baths, Belfast Literature: Cork ROSC 1980 exhibition catalogue, full page illustration, plate 3, page 23 Patrick Collins, Frances Ruane, illustrated page 33 Modern Art in Ireland, Dorothy Walker, illustrated page 66 Frances Ruane noted in her monograph on the artist in the early 1980's that ''Moorland Water'' was one of ''three large works that stand together as an important landmark in Collins career'' which were painted between 1957 and 1958. The other two being ''Liffey Quaysides'' which was awarded the Guggenheim award for Ireland in 1958 and is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland and ''Spring Morning'' which was in the Sir Basil Goulding Collection. Frances Ruane noted that ''Moorland Water'' demonstrated ''a greater complexity of composition and a more subtle and varied use of colour than in previous works''. ''Still veiled in a somewhat hazy atmosphere the crisp shapes in ''Moorland Water'' and ''Spring Morning'' give their surfaces a stacatto liveliness.In these two companion pieces,both completed in 1957,Collins uses abstraction to a greater degree than he had ever done before.'' Frances Ruane continues '' Moorland water'' is even more dense with layers compressing towards the center. The linear gestures within the picture are nervous rather than explosive,twisting like snakes around the core of compacted forms. In ''Moorland Water'' there is a suggestive evocation of nature:sky,clouds,mountains,water and rocks,all merging so that one can hardly tell them apart.Yet,even so,the subject of the picture remains unmistakable.Collins avoids the picturesque view in an attempt to get closer to capturing the sensations inspired by nature. Within this protective womb-like shape we find a place imbued with life and we can sense the freedom and adventure a young boy might have felt while exploring the rivers,lakes,fields and woods around Sligo.'' We acknowledge the pioneering work that Frances Ruane did on the life of Patrick Collins and whose monograph formed the main source material for this entry.

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