Lot 3
HENRY COLLINS (BRITISH 1910-1994) & JOYCE COLLINS (BRITISH 1912-2004) §
THE BOXER, 1950; TWO DESIGNS FOR BACKGROUNDS - SPORTS SECTION, FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN, 1951
Auction: The Ursula & Gordon Bowyer Collection | Lots 1 to 79 | Thurs 30 October from 5pm
Description
The Boxer - signed, inscribed and dated in pencil (lower right), pen, ink, watercolour and pencil on paper; Two Designs - signed and titled in pencil to mount (lower left) , pencil and gouache on paper
Dimensions
33cm x 41cm (13in x 16in)
9cm x 21.5cm (3 ½in x 8 ½in) each
Provenance
A gift of the Artists to Gordon & Ursula Bowyer;
The Collection of Gordon & Ursula Bowyer.
Footnote
Henry & Joyce Collins were a husband-and-wife artistic team who worked on a number of public art projects from the late 1940s onwards, most notably a wide array of concrete and mosaic murals for public and commercial buildings, especially during the post-war building boom of the 60s and 70s. They met the Bowyers when they were commissioned for a series of designs and murals for the Festival of Britain – including Gordon and Ursula’s Sports Pavilion – and remained close friends and occasional collaborators for the decades that followed.
Joyce Pallot studied industrial art and design at Colchester and Southend Schools of Art. It was while at Colchester in 1932 that she met Henry Collins, whom she married in 1938. As well as her career as an industrial designer and muralist, Joyce, like Henry, pursued a parallel career as a fine artist, with exhibitions in both public spaces and private galleries.
Henry Collins born into a working-class family in Colchester, studying at Colchester School of Art before moving to the Central School in London to study graphic design. He started his career in 1935 by designing a poster for London Underground, entitled Cheap Return Fares, and after his war service he continued as a freelance designer whilst trying to establish himself as a professional artist. He was also an educator, teaching part-time in the Graphic Design Department of St Martin’s School of Art, London, for 25 years, as well as at Colchester School of Art.