Herbert A. Collins

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Herbert A. Collins, Sr.
Herbert A. Collins, Sr.

Herbert Alexander Collins, Sr., (1865-1937) was a Canadian-born American artist. He was known nationally in the United States as a landscape and portrait painter[1].

Contents

[edit] Early years

Herbert was born on October 21, 1865 in West Williams Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada. He was the son of James Hamilton Collins and Lucinda Collins, both of whom were born in Ontario. His mother's father, William Collins, was born in Scotland.[2]

He emigrated to the United States in 1884.[3]

His younger brother James A Collins was also a portrait artist. Herbert and James had an artist shop together in Omaha, Nebraska in 1885.[4]

In 1888, he married Mary E. Straight in Chicago, Illinois. She was born in 1867 in Green Township, Monroe County, Ohio[5]. Her parents were born in Ohio. He was in Omaha in 1889 and 1990.[6] By June of 1900, they lived in Chicago's 31st Ward on Bishop Street and had already had 4 children. He worked as a portrait artist.[7]

In 1910, he and his family lived in Hagerman, Idaho, where he was an artist.[8] In 1920, they lived in Gooding, Idaho, where he worked as an art instructor.[9] He was a member of the Lincoln Lodge while there. [10]. Together they had 9 children, six of which survived. Their children were born between 1891 and 1904.[2]

[edit] Artistic career

Herbert made several significant portraits of naturalist John Muir. The Sierra Club uses one of his portraits in their biographical materials about Muir.[11] One of these portraits is in the collection of the College of the Siskiyous in Weed, California.[12]

He was "known for his portraits of Idaho Governors hanging in the Boise Capitol Building and for a portrait of Porfirio Diaz, President of Mexico, painted in 1904."[10]

His portrait of an Indian Camp near the Tetons hangs in the Colter Bay Indian Arts Museum in Grand Teton National Park.[13] His painting of the legend of Mato the Bear hangs over the fireplace in the visitors center at Devil's Tower National Monument.[14] His work is also on display in the visitor center of Tumacácori National Historical Park.[15]

Herbert A. Collins, Sr. and his son Herbert A. Collins, Jr. were commissioned in the spring of 1937, the final year of his life, to paint six Yosemite Valley reconstructions for the Yosemite National Park Museum. These oil paintings show how the valley might have looked in six different times during its geographic evolution. They are also reproduced in the book The Incomparable Valley.[16]

His portraits of the Kent family are in the Muir Woods National Monument in Marin County, California.[17] They were unveiled not long before his death[1].

His Oakland Tribune second page obituary summarized his career by saying that he was "widely heralded for his portrait artistry" and that "he did much work for the National Park Service"[1].

[edit] Later years

His second wife was named Josephine J. Collins. She was born in Canada about 1864, emigrated to the United States in 1887, and died in California in 1950[2].

He moved to California in 1921[1].

In 1930 he lived with Josephine in Redwood Township, Santa Clara County, California.[3] Redwood Township is in the area of the modern cities of Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga California.

His son William W. Collins became a photographer.

He died at his home of a heart attack on December 5, 1937 in Berkeley, California.[2]. His funeral was on December 7, 1937 at the Berg Chapel, officiated by Dr. Horace Westerwood. He was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.[10] He was living at 2119 Addison Street in Berkeley at the time[1]. He was survived by his wife, two daughters, and four sons.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Obituary in the Oakland Tribune, December 6, 1937
  2. ^ a b c d Family tree of Herbert A. Collins
  3. ^ a b 1930 Census Image in Redwood Township, Santa Clara Co., CA (pay)
  4. ^ Nebraska State Census 1885
  5. ^ 1870 US Census image in Green, Monroe Ohio for Mary Straight (pay)
  6. ^ Omaha Nebraska Directories 1889-1890
  7. ^ 1900 U.S. Census image, Illinois, Cook County, Chicago Ward 31, District 980 (H. A. Collins)(pay)
  8. ^ 1910 U.S. Census Image in Hagerman, Idaho (pay)
  9. ^ 1920 U.S. Census Image in Gooding City, Idaho (pay)
  10. ^ a b c d Last Rites Are Held For Berkeley Artist, Oakland Tribune, December 7, 1937, (www.newspaperarchives.com (pay))
  11. ^ Portrait of John Muir on the Sierra Club page about Muir
  12. ^ Muir Portrait in the collection of the College of the Syskiyous
  13. ^ per Alice M. Hart, Curator, Grand Teton National Park
  14. ^ per National Park Service employee Christine Czazasty
  15. ^ Dioramas in the visitor center at Tumacácori National Historical Park
  16. ^ The Geomorphic Evolution of the Yosemite Valley, Jeffrey P. Schafer, ISBN-13: 978-0899972190
  17. ^ Herbert Alexander Collins on AskArt

[edit] External links

  • Artists in California, Edan Milton Hughes ISBN-10: 0961611219
  • Davenport's Art Reference 2005, Ray Davenport
  • The Incomparable Valley, Francois Matthes, ISBN-13: 978-0520008274