Michael Collins photo 1921

Rare Michael Collins photo 1921 printed by O'Loughlin, Murphy and Boland.
A copy of a rare Murphy, O’Loughlin and Boland print of a photograph of Collins taken in 1921, most likely shortly before or perhaps during the Treaty negotiations in London ( when he was also photographed sporting a moustache). A close look at his expression in the photograph, taken at the height of the War of Independence and when the Volunteers were struggling under the pressure of arrests and a shortage of arms and ammunition, shows Collins look of steely determination, not without a hint of ruthlessness. Very much the expression of a man consumed with a battle against the best operatives the British intelligence services could throw at them nationally but particularly in Dublin where the net was closing.
The picture is also an excellent juxtaposition beside Leo Whelan’s painting from life which Collins sat for in February 1922. Whelan really captured Collins personality and looks however the pressure Collins so evident in the painting, and to a degree his sadness, was now that of the impending Civil War which he was desperately trying to avoid.
The poster would have been produced shortly after Collins death in August 1922.