Collins William

Collins, William (1788-1847), an English painter, chiefly of figures and landscapes, was born in London, and was of an Irish family. He entered the Academy under Etty in 1807, and in 1809 exhibited his first pictures - Bogs at Breakfast and Boys with a Bird's Nest. In 1812 his Sale of the Pet Lamb brought him popularity, and in 1815 he was made A.R.A. and in 1820 R.A. After a visit to Italy in 1837-38 he painted some pictures on Italian and on sacred subjects, but in 1842 he returned to his own special field of coasts and boats and fishermen and country children. His Blackberry Gatherers, Happy as a King, The Fisherman's Departure, and The Birdcatchcrs, are well known. He exhibited 169 works.