ADAM'S IMPORTANT IRISH ART 24th September 2025

80 48 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 Jor- gensen Gallery, Dublin. € 10,000 - 15,000 Artworks from the Ib Jorgensen Collection Beyond the Bog clearly illustrates the importance of Patrick Collins, the bravery that separates him from the conserv- atism 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 ap- proach. 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 bounc- ing 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 com- position 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