Henry William Collins 1910 - 1907

Henry William Collins was a painter, graphic designer and teacher, born in Colchester in 1910, the son of Henry Percy Collins, a gas fitter and his wife Marie née Beagley. Henry studied at Colchester School of Art and the Central School, London and in 1935 started his career by designing a poster for London Underground.

During World War II he served with the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers, and after the war worked as a freelance designer, establishing himself as a professional artist. He met Joyce Millicent Pallot at the Colchester Art School in 1932. They married in 1938 and began working on public art commissions together in 1948. They completed over 60 projects in a pioneering partnership over 62 years. They are best known for their work on large-scale concrete murals during the 1970s many of which remain on show today across the UK.

They were founding members of the Colchester Art Society in 1946 and lived and worked in Colchester for most of their lives. Henry taught at St. Martins School of Art and Colchester School of Art and Joyce at Colchester and Southend Art Schools.

Their first prominent commission was for The Central Office of Information for the Sea and Ships Pavilion as part of the Festival of Britain in 1951. Following this they exhibited internationally developing designs in Formica for the Brussels Exhibition (1957-8), Jamestown Festival, USA and Expo 1970 in Osaka, Japan. They enjoyed great success in commercial design, working for Max Factor, KLM, Kodak and the GPO.