James Henry Cecil Collins MBE (23 March 1908 – 4 June 1989) was an English painter and printmaker, originally associated with the

Surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

movement.

Life and works

From 1951 to 1975 he taught at the Central School of Art. Later, one of his pupils was

Ginger Gilmour Ginger Gilmour (born Virginia Hasenbein; January 19, 1949) is an American artist, sculptor, and author. Between 1975 and 1990, she was married to Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Since their divorce, she has lived in England. Personal life ...

. Collins' style in centered around

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

and

early christian Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and be ...

imagery in many of his works. The figure of the fool was an important one as well in his vision of the world and art (especially in his essay collection ''The Vision of the Fool''), describing it as "an idealistic figure" pushing back against the "mechanic jungle of the contemporary world", representing "the poetic imagination of life, as inexplicable as the essence of life itself". Collins was awarded an MBE in June 1979. A retrospective exhibition of his prints was held at the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

in 1981. A retrospective of his paintings took place (before Collins died) in 1989. He was buried on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

. His widow

Elisabeth Collins Elisabeth Ward Collins (née Ramsden, 31 October 1904 – 17 January 2000), was a British painter and sculptor. Biography Collins was born and brought up in Halifax in Yorkshire where her father was the editor, and owner, of a local n ...

died in 2000 and, in 2008, 250 of Collins' paintings worth £1 million were given to museums and galleries in the UK. In honour of the centenary of his birth, an exhibition of Collins' work took place at

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

in Autumn 2008.

Exhibitions

* 1935 − Bloomsbury Gallery, London, England * 1936 −

International Surrealist Exhibition The International Surrealist Exhibition was held from 11 June to 4 July 1936 at the New Burlington Galleries, near Savile Row in London's Mayfair, England. Organisers The exhibition was organised by committees from England, France, Belgium, Scan ...

− New Burlington Galleries, London, England * 1942 − Toledo Museum of Fine Art, US * 1948 − ''New Paintings by Cecil Collins'' −

Lefevre Gallery The Lefevre Gallery (or The Lefevre Galleries) was an art gallery in London, England, operated by Alex. Reid & Lefevre Ltd. The gallery was opened at 1a, King Street, St James's, in 1926, when rival art dealers Alexander Reid and Ernest Lefe ...

, London, England * 1950 − ''New Paintings'' − Heffer Gallery, Cambridge, England * 1951 − Leicester Galleries * 1953 − Society of Mural Painters * 1953 − Ashmolean Museum, Oxford * 1954 − Arts Council, London * 1956 − Leicester Galleries * 1959 − Whitechapel Gallery, London * 1961 − Gallery Zygos, Athens, Greece * 1964 − Carnegie International Exhibition, Pittsburgh, US * 1965 − Arthur Tooth & Sons * 1967 − Crane Kalman Gallery * 1971 − ''Britain's Contribution to Surrealism'' − Hamet Gallery, London, England * 1972 − ''Retrospective Exhibition. Drawings, Paintings, Watercolours, Gouaches and Paintings 1936−1968'' * 1981 − ''New Works'' −

Anthony d'Offay Anthony, also spelled Antony, is a masculine given name derived from the '' Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descen ...

, London, England * 1981 − ''The Prints of Cecil Collins'' − Tate Gallery, London, England * 1983 − Plymouth Arts Centre * 1984 − Festival Gallery, Aldeburgh * 1988 − ''Recent Paintings'' −

, London, England * 1989 − Tate Gallery, London

Bibliography

* ''The Gates of Silence'' (Grey Walls Press, 1944) by

Wrey Gardiner Charles Wrey Gardiner (1901 – 13 March 1981) was an English writer and poet, editor and publisher, born in Plymouth. Gardiner was a noted and well-connected literary figure, particularly in London in the years around Second World War, though ...

with drawings by Cecil Collins * ''The Vision of the Fool'' (Grey Walls Press, 1947) * ''Cecil Collins: Painter of Paradise'' (1979) by

Kathleen Raine Kathleen Jessie Raine (14 June 1908 – 6 July 2003) was an English poet, critic and scholar, writing in particular on William Blake, W. B. Yeats and Thomas Taylor. Known for her interest in various forms of spirituality, most prominently Plat ...

* ''The Quest for the Great Happiness'' (1988) by

William Anderson William Anderson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Anderson (artist) (1757–1837), painter of marine and historical paintings * William Anderson (theatre) (1868–1940), Australian stage entrepreneur * William Anderson (1911–1986 ...

* ''In Celebration of Cecil Collins: Visionary Artist and Educator'' (2008) compiled and edited by Nomi Rowe * ''The Magic Mirror: Thoughts and Reflections on Cecil Collins'' (2010) by John Stewart Allitt * ''Meditations, Poems, Pages from a Sketch Book'', by Cecil Collins (Golgonooza Press, 1997) * ''The Vision of the Fool and other Writings'', by Cecil Collins, enlarged edition (Golgonooza Press, 2002) * ''Cecil Collins, The Artist as Writer and Image Maker'', by Brian Keeble (Golgonooza Press, 2009)

References

External links

*
Cecil Collins
at the Tate Gallery
Eye of the Heart. The paintings of Cecil Collins.
1978. Arts Council England film collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Cecil 1908 births 1989 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery 20th-century English painters English male painters Alumni of the Royal College of Art Artists from Plymouth, Devon 20th-century English printmakers Royal Academicians 20th-century English male artists English surrealist artists Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire