Peter Collis 1929-2012
This charming, urbane, immaculately suited Englishman has devoted himself artistically almost entirely to recording the landscape of his adopted home….He has become a quintessential voice for the ruggedly beautiful, dark and sublime mountains and valleys, fields and crooked roads of Wicklow, South Dublin and the West.
James Hanley, RHA
There was not a time that I remember my Father anything but completely obsessed with art. I remember drives in the country as a child and him stopping to observe the scenery and explaining the light and colours. The magical translation of a landscape to canvas was like a tireless crusade for perfection but when the paint made contact with canvas it appeared effortless, like poetry, it was as if time had stood still and that scene captured forever. We were so lucky that he shared it with us and those precious memories remain in the beautiful work that surrounds us today. With his charm, sense of humour and his impeccable style my Father remains one-of-a-kind. He will be in my head and heart eternally, but through his painting I am glad he will also touch the lives of many more people for years to come.
Katie Collis
Solo Exhibitions
2012 Paintings from The Last Thirty Years, London
2010 Peppercanister Gallery, Dublin
2006 Solomon Gallery, London
2004 John Martin Gallery, London
2002 Solomon Gallery, London
2001 John Martin Gallery, London
1999 Solomon Gallery, London
1998 John Martin Gallery, London
1997 Solomon Gallery, London
1996 John Martin Gallery, London
1995 James Dalkey Gallery, Co. Dublin
1994 Fosse Gallery, Cheltenham
1993 Yeats Gallery, Sligo
1992 Fosse Gallery, Cheltenham
1991 Trinity Gallery, London
1990 Carroll Gallery, Longford
1989 Carroll Gallery, Longford
1988 Hendricks Gallery, Dublin
1987 Hendricks Gallery, Dublin
1986 Carroll Gallery, Longford
1986 Grant Fine Art Newcastle, Co. Down
1984 Lincoln Gallery, Dublin
1981 Image Gallery, Dublin
1979 Image Gallery, Dublin
1977 Emmet Gallery, Dublin
1975 Emmet Gallery, Dublin
Selected Group Exhibitions
Royal Academy, London; Royal Society of Portrait Painters, London; United Society of Artists, London; Royal Hibernian Academy; An Oireachtas, Independent Artists, Dublin; Ulster Arts Club; Cork Art Society; Figurative Image, Kenny Gallery, Galway; Irish Art, Concept Gallery, Pittsburgh, U.S.A; Celebration of the Bog, A Touring Exhibition to the Carroll, IMMA, Glebe & Butler Galleries; Claremorris Open Exhibition; United Arts Club Group; Taylor Galleries Dublin; Dolan Moore Gallery; Trinity Gallery, London; Contemporary Irish Artists, Austin Desmond Fine Art, London; Fosse Gallery; Narrow Water Gallery, Northern Ireland; Swift Gallery, Northern Ireland; James Gallery, Dalkey; Aer Rianta Arts Festival 1991, Claremorris Gallery, Dublin; Jorgensen Fine Art, Dublin; Boyle Arts Festival; George Moore Festival, Solomon Gallery, Dublin; Hendericks Gallery, New York, U.S.A; Contemporary Artists from Ireland (1995), Eight Painters from Ireland (1999), John Martin.