Mountain Trail, B.C. by Charles John Collings

Charles Collings was born in Devonshire, England in 1848. Although he received some training in London, he was primarily a self-taught artist. His watercolour landscapes were exhibited at the Royal Academy in London (1893-5) and at the Intl. Society of Sculptors, Painters and Engravers (1898).

He immigrated to Canada in 1910 at the age of 58, and settled at Seymour Arm, Shuswap Lake, B.C. There he painted landscapes of the Rocky Mountains, but also travelled to Niagara and Nipigon, Ont.; Whitehorse, Yukon and throughout British Columbia. His principal market was in Great Britain. The National Gallery of Canada acquired his watercolour, Departing Winter No.9from the Carroll Gallery, London in 1915. This painting reveals an oriental-like approach to his subject. His work is represented in galleries collections across Canada, including the Winnipeg Art Gallery. He died in Seymour Arm at the age of 83.

Ref:
A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Vol.1,by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks, 1997