Thomas Frederick Collier, Landscape Painter
(fl. 1848-1860)
Landscape Painter
From A Dictionary of Irish Artists 1913
He was admitted as a pupil in the Dublin Society's Schools in 1848, and during his course there carried off several prizes. Whilst still a student he exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy, sending a fruit piece in 1850, and five landscapes and fruit pieces the following year; he also exhibited in 1852, 1853, and 1858, and had works in the Royal Academy, London, in 1856, 1857, and 1860. In 1853 he was appointed second master in the School of Design in Cork, under R. R. Scanlan (q.v.), and in 1860 he became Head Master. This position, however, he held for only a few months. A talented artist, showing much promise, he unfortunately ruined his career by intemperance, becoming at last a confirmed drunkard. He was found by his pupils one morning, at the opening of the school, surrounded by the wrecks of plaster casts, which he had smashed in a drunken fit. After his removal from the school he left Cork, abandoning his wife and children, and he is not heard of afterwards. His son, BERNARD COLLIER, became an artist and was for some time master in the Canterbury School of Art. He made a few contributions to the Royal Hibernian Academy's exhibitions.