William Crozier
(1930-2011)
Born in Glasgow to Irish parents, he grew up in Scotland and moved to Paris after finishing college at the Glasgow School of Art. After Paris he moved to London, then Dublin and later settled in Cork.
Growing up he would regularly visit his Irish grandparents in Co Antrim and as a teenager he hitchhiked all around the country and developed a love of Ireland that would remain with him throughout his life.
In 1953 he moved to Dublin with his family and made a living painting theatre sets. At the time he made few connections to visual artists but became friends with some of the greatest writers of the time: Anthony Cronin, Patrick Kavanagh and Flann O’Brien. These writers, particularly Kavanagh, shaped Crozier’s thinking about Ireland and influenced how he saw and represented the landscape in his work.
Crozier became an Irish citizen in 1973 and bought a home in West Cork in 1983. There he began a hugely productive period of work as he grappled with the powerful landscape of West Cork.
He went on to produce some of the most iconic works of the Irish landscape made in the latter half of the twentieth century.
Crozier represented both Ireland and the UK internationally in numerous museum collections.
William Crozier was an elected member of Aosdána as well as honorary member of the Royal Hibernian Academy and represented both Ireland and the UK internationally in numerous museum collections including Tate, London; Imperial War Museum, London; National Museum in Gdansk, Poland; IMMA and the National Gallery of Ireland.
Hamilton House has this fabulous William Crozier painting “Toe Head, West Cork, 1988” Oil on Canvas hanging in reception for all to enjoy.
