Dorking Museum & Heritage Centre's collection of paintings in all media reflects the beautiful countryside which attracted artists to the area, and comprises the work of professional and amateur artists who have lived and worked in Dorking, even for a short period, and painted local scenes. Professional artists with their pupils would take up residence in the summer, returning to London to work in their studios during the winter months. The two main artists represented in our collection are John Beckett (1799–1864), who was born in Dorking and started out as a house painter and decorator but was soon supporting himself by selling his paintings, and Alfred Charles Jerome Collins, RBA, RCA (known as Charles Collins) (1851–1921) who first exhibited at the Royal Academy at the age of sixteen, when his family lived in Camden. He moved to Dorking in 1875 and was Art Master for many years at Dorking High School.