Herbert A. Collins

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.

Early years Herbert was born on October 21, 1865, in West Williams Township, Middlesex County, Canada West. 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. "At 17, Collins was apprenticed to J. W. Forster of Toronto, one of the foremost portrait painters in Canada. His progress was so rapid that before completing the first year of his apprenticeship, he painted a portrait of Honorable Albion Rawlings, a member of the Ontario Parliament."

A start in Omaha His apprenticeship ended after he incurred a serious injury at a barn raising, followed by contracting pneumonia. Collins convalesced with his aunt, Jean Anderson Collins Shontz, and uncle, Benjamin Shontz in Omaha, Nebraska. His younger brother James A Collins was also a portrait artist. Herbert and James had an artist shop together in Omaha, Nebraska in 1885.

While in Omaha, he painted portraits of Nebraska governors James W. Dawes, James E. Boyd and Senator John Thurston. He also painted portraits of General Nelson A. Miles, General Brooks, General George Crook, and General Oliver O. Howard of Fort Omaha as well as English actress Olga Nethersole. Her parents were born in Ohio. Together they had 9 children, six of which survived. Their children were born between 1891 and 1904. He was in Omaha in 1889 and 1890.

Artistic career "In 1890 Collins and family moved to Chicago, where he continued his career." While there he met Henry Charles Heath, the noted miniature painter. This contact marked the beginning of his specialty of miniature portraits painted with watercolor on ivory."

During a four-month stay in Mexico City in 1903, he painted a portrait of Mexican President Porfirio Diaz, the Secretary of State, and other high Mexican Officials. The portrait of Diaz was destroyed in the 1910 revolution. In 1920, they lived in Gooding, Idaho, where he worked as an art instructor. He was a member of the Lincoln Lodge while there. The Hagerman High School senior class of 1919 commissioned him to do a landscape of Stanley Lake in the Sawtooth Range as their class gift. One of these portraits is in the collection of the College of the Siskiyous in Weed, California.

Move to California He moved to California in 1921. His painting of the legend of Mato the Bear hangs over the fireplace in the visitors center at Devils Tower National Monument. His work is also on display in the visitor center of Tumacácori National Historical Park.

He did portraits of National Park Service Directors Stephen Mather, Horace M. Albright, and Arno B. Cammerer.

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

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".

Death and legacy He died at his home of a heart attack on December 5, 1937, in Berkeley, California. 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. He was living at 2119 Addison Street in Berkeley at the time. He was survived by his wife, two daughters, and four sons.

His son William W. Collins became a photographer.