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Lot No: 6
Patrick Collins HRHA (1910-1994)
ON THE DUNES, DOLLYMOUNT, 1984
Published Estimate: €10000-15000
Price Realised: €0
signed and dated lower right; with inscribed Tom Caldwell Galleries label on reverse Around 1978 Collins’ paintings entered a more robust stage, with bold calligraphic strokes of paint giving strong definition to the surface. Through the early 1980s these marks became more and more rounded and more active, culminating in paintings like this one, with its swirling curvilinear movement. On both professional and domestic fronts Collins had entered what was perhaps the most stable period in his life and paintings like this one certainly have a joyous, celebratory feeling to them. Colour is also used with greater gusto, the pale greyed hues having given way to more intense tones like the yellow and blues in On the Dunes. Although the painting still has the diffused light that we associate with the artist, it is more brilliant here. Collins preferred to paint from memory so that the picture would be an independent entity with its own internal visual logic rather than being determined by the physical appearance of the subject. The composition of this picture is pure Collins, with the main action gravitating towards the edges. He pulls the shapes towards the perimeter and pivots them around the centre so that the composition has a dynamic rotating movement. The use of crisp white paint further animates the surface, contributing to the picture’s freshness. Ovals within ovals and sweeping arabesques reinforce the undulating rhythms of the dunes, the blustery wind and the sea in a way that is far more potent than any literal depiction. Dr. Frances Ruane May, 2010 Dr. Ruane is the author of Patrick Collins, The Arts Council Dublin, 1982.
oil on canvas
61 by 89cm., 24 by 35in.
Provenance:
Exhibited:
Collins often drew on memories from his past for subjects so that the passage of time would erode details and allow him to distil the poetic essence of the experience. As a young man he played for Clontarf Rugby Club and for a while, in the mid-1940s, lived in a tower in Howth Castle, so it is reasonable to suppose that his attraction to Dollymount Strand grew out of this period in his life. On the Dunes is an exuberant evocation of the place and the feeling of being there: the brisk wind in your face, the warm light bouncing off the sand, moist rock pools at your feet, the expanse of undulating dunes that pull you towards the sea, with the hill of Howth hovering in the distance.