Henry and Joyce Collins

Henry and Joyce Collins
Henry and Joyce Collins concrete mural, St Botolph's Circus underpass
Born	(1910-09-17)September 17, 1910 Colchester, Essex (Henry Collins) and 1912 Brightlingsea, United Kingdom (Joyce Pallot)
Died	1994 (Henry Collins) and 2004 Lexden, United Kingdom (Joyce Pallot)
Nationality	British

Henry William Collins and Joyce Millicent Pallot were two artists who lived and worked together for over 60 years. They are best known for their work on a number of large-scale public concrete murals during the 1960s and 1970s, many of which remain around the UK today. Their mural work often included elements relating to the cultural and industrial heritage of the location they were sited and is part of a tradition of muralists that includes William Mitchell and Kenneth Budd amongst others. Henry Collins and Joyce Pallot were both prominent members of the Colchester Art Society and exhibited together on a number of occasions.

Henry Collins was an artist and designer born in Colchester in 1910. He was the son of Henry Percy Collins and his wife Mary née Beagley. He studies at the Colchester School of Art and the Central School, London. During World War II he served in the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers. After the war, Collins worked as a freelance designer and established himself as an artist following a commission by the Central Office of Information at the Festival of Britain in 1951. Collins was also an educator teaching at St Martin’s School of Art, London and the Colchester School of Art and was a founding member of the Colchester Art Society. Collins designed the Colchester Art Society’s logo and designed the posters for the Colchester Arts Society’s first exhibition at the Colchester Castle. Collins also designed a poster for Transport for London in 1935 titled Cheap Return Fairs. Following Henry Collins death in 1994, a memorial exhibition was held at Essex County Libraries 1995-1996.

Pallot was born in Brightlingsea in Essex, United Kingdom. She was educated at Colchester Country High School and the Southend Schools of Art. Following World War II, Pallot taught part-time in private schools and adult education centres in Colchester as well as in the Colchester School of Art. In her lifetime Pallot was a member of the Society of Industrial Artists and a prominent member of the Colchester Art Society sitting on various selection committees alongside fellow Colchester Art Society member and director, the artist John Nash. Some of Pallot’s paintings are included in the Colchester Country High School’s collection as well as Colchester Art Society's permanent collection.