William Collins R.A. (British 1788-1847)

Artist: William Collins R.A. (British 1788-1847).
Title: Children at play in the Sands near Cromer, Norfolk.
Medium: Oil on wooden panel.
Framed Size: Height 27.5 cm x Width 34.5 cm x Depth 3 cm.
Image Size: Height 16.5 cm x Width 23.5 cm.
Condition: The work is in good condition with minor surface blemishes. The painting has recently been surface cleaned and re-varnished. The gilt period frame although not original has some slight areas of restoration.
Provenance:
Christies London Stencil Number 964J, 5th of May 1879 Lot 148.
Private Collection London.
Private Collection Sydney.

About: William Collins was a British painter popular for both his genre scenes and landscapes. His rustic renditions of children playing, expressive skies and fields were very popular which led to him gaining financial success. During his lifetime he was considered more famous than his better-remembered peer and rival John Constable.

Born on September 8, 1788, in London, England, Collins developed an early interest in painting while accompanying his father, a picture dealer. As a youth Collins went on to study under the painter George Morland at the Royal Academy of Art. It was at the Royal Academy that he developed a penchant for the subjects that his teacher Morland painted, country idylls and rural landscapes in browns and greens.

His most popular works were reproduced in books and periodicals. Collins died on February 17, 1847, in London. His paintings are held in the collections of the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Tate Gallery in London.