Charles McAuley was born in the Glens of Antrim in 1910. Despite being from a small rural village, Charles pursued painting from an early age, in an area where farming was one of the main sources of life and income. Early in his life he was spotted by James Humbert Craig, who encouraged him and that influence inspired his early work. A landscape and figurative painter, his work depicted the rivers, mountains, seascapes and rural life that surrounded him. Many of his paintings are in private collections, others are in the collections of the Ulster Museum and Queens University.