Collins, WILLIAM, R.A.

Collins, WILLIAM, R.A., landscape and figure painter, was born in London, September 8, 1788, of a Wicklow family. In 1807 he entered the Royal Academy as a student, and in the same year he exhibited two small landscapes. In 1812 his 'Sale of the Pet Lamb' was sold for 140 guineas, and from this time his pictures became popular. He exhibited 169 works, of which the best known are the 'Blackberry Gatherers' and 'The Birdcatchers' (1814), which gained his associateship; 'Scene on the Coast of Norfolk' (1815), now at Windsor; 'The Fisherman's Departure' (1826), 'As Happy as a King' (1836), and 'Early Morning' (1846). Collins was elected R.A. in 1820. He studied and sketched in Italy in 1836-38, and in 1839 sent to the Academy several Italian subjects. Two pictures on sacred subjects (1840-41) were not particularly successful, and he wisely fell back on his green fields, his sea-beaches, his rustics, and his children at their games. A visit to the Shetland Islands in 1842 supplied materials for the illustrations of Scott's Pirate. Collins died in London, February 17, 1847. See his Life (1848) by his elder son, William Wilkie Collins.—His second son, CHARLES ALLSTON COLLINS (1828-73), in early life painted a number of pictures which are highly valued by collectors. In 1860 he married the younger daughter of Charles Dickens, and having already turned his attention to literature, produced The Eye-witness essays (1860), two novels, and other works, all exhibiting high promise.