Albert Henry Collings Art

Albert Henry Collings, RBA was an English artist most notable for his portraiture. Collings was born, trained, and lived all his life in London. Working in oils, watercolor and pastel, he specialized in figure subjects and portraits, for which he received a number of official commissions. He exhibited for many years at the Royal Society of British Artists, showing a total of 98 works and being elected a member in 1897. He also supported the Royal Academy (29 works, 1896–1938) and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolors, and showed at the Paris Salon, where he was awarded a gold medal for a portrait in 1907. In 1911, Collings painted in oils the portrait of the Unionist MP for East Herts, Mr Abel Smith, which was presented to Abel Smith by his friends. Examples of his portraiture are at Harrow and in the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and Portsmouth Town Hall; but for such a fluent and relatively prolific artist, his work is now rare.