Charles John Collings - A Garden In Bloom

Charles John Collings, Chudleigh (England), 1848 – Seymour Arm (Canada), 1931. A Garden in Bloom. Oil on canvas. 36.5 x 24 cm (41 x 38 cm framed). Signed and dated lower left "CJ Collings/ 90". On the reverse of the canvas is a sketch of a boat. Fine period Montparnasse carved wood frame. Charles John Collings is considered a Canadian painter. Born in Devonshire, England, in 1848, he later immigrated to Canada. Initially self-taught, he exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and with the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Engravers. When he immigrated to Canada in the early 20th century, he settled in British Columbia. His works are held in the National Gallery of Canada, the Poole Foundation (Edmonton), and the Winnipeg Art Gallery (MacDonald, Colin S., A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume One, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing, 1997, p. 509a). Our painting has a great deal of charm despite the simplicity of its composition. It depicts a garden in bloom, rendered in a style characteristic of Collings's art: very impressionistic and with beautiful colours.