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Late Career

Inspirations

Patrick Hickey’s career took a turn after stepping down from his position as head of the Graphic Studio in Dublin. After visiting Corfu in 1975 he returned to Ireland to focus on new forms of work. He went on to create some of his most successful etching prints known as the ‘Months’, which represent each month of the year in the form of a calendar. The forms and compositions of these works have often been compared to traditional Japanese artwork. Hickey admitted to being an admirer of the Japanese spirit in his review of the ‘Japanese Minor Arts of Netsuke and Inro’, saying that he “painted like the Japanese even before he saw Japanese work.” Additionally, Hickey’s ‘Alphabet’ (1988) and ‘Aesop’s Fables’ (1990) series show his appreciation of Japanese works.

Achievements

In 1971, Hickey took part in the national Rosc exhibitions. He was responsible for organising and exhibiting the eighteenth-century Irish delftware in Castletown House, County Kildare. Hickey believed that education in art needed reform, so he joined the college board for the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in May 1972. That same year, Hickey’s first exhibit of ‘Bogland, Wicklow’ was at the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) in Dublin. Hickey, alongside consulting engineer Sean Mulcahy and sculptor Michael Biggs, was selected by the National Bank to design a set of Irish banknotes for the treasury in 1972. In 1974, Hickey exhibited some of his etching works for the first time outside of Ireland at the Purdhoe Gallery in London.

Front view of the Taylor Galleries located at number 17 Kildare Street in Dublin City, Ireland.

In 1980, RTÉ News reported Hickey’s attendance at the National Gallery in Dublin to teach children of the ways of art. He wanted the young people of Ireland to visit the gallery and to see it as “a living place”. He then exhibited his ‘Garden with Sago Palms Oil’ on canvas in 1988 at the Taylor Galleries in Dublin. This would be one of the last exhibitions of his career. Hickey returned to teaching part-time in University College Dublin (UCD) at the School of Architecture, then later went on to be a professor at the NCAD in the late 1980’s.