George Spencer Watson

Self portrait
Portrait of Hilda Spencer Watson
Four Loves I found, a Woman, a Child, a Horse and a Hound (1922)
Mary in the gardens, Dunshay (Drat them Goats!) (1926)

George Spencer Watson R.O.I., R.P., A.R.A., R.A. (8 March 1869, London – 11 April 1934, London) was an English portrait artist of the late romantic school who sometimes worked in the style of the Italian Renaissance.

Career

He studied at the Royal Academy Schools from 1889, and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1891. He won Royal Academy Schools Silver Medals in 1889 and 1891, and the Landseer Scholarship in 1892. He was elected to the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI) in 1900, Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP) in 1904, Associate of the Royal Academy in 1923, and a Member of the Royal Academy (RA) in 1932.[1][2]

Personal life

He married Hilda, a dancer and mime artist, and follower of the actor Edward Gordon Craig. They had a daughter, Mary Spencer Watson (1913–2006), who became a sculptor. In the year of 1923 he bought Dunshay Manor in the hills of the Isle of Purbeck, after already having spent holidays in nearby Swanage.

He died in London and a memorial exhibition was held at the Fine Art Society in the same year. There is a memorial to him in the north vestibule of St James's Church, Piccadilly, London.

Works

1920s portrait of Rodolph Fane De Salis (1854-1931).

Some of his works are held at Tate Britain, the Harris Art Gallery, Preston and collections in Bournemouth, Liverpool, Plymouth and the National Gallery of Canada. Born in London, Watson studied at the Royal Academy from 1889; he exhibited there from 1891 and also at the Paris salon. Retrospective exhibitions were held at the Galerie Heinemann, Munich in 1912, and at the Fine Art Society in 1914. His work A Lady in Black (1922) is owned by the Tate Collection.

See also

Media related to George Spencer Watson at Wikimedia Commons

References

  1. Royal Academy of Arts: George Spencer Watson.
  2. George Spencer Watson at Artmagick
    • R.O.I.: Royal Institute of Oil Painters
    • R.P.: Royal Society of Portrait Painters
    • A.R.A.: Associate of the Royal Academy
    • R.A.: Royal Academy.
  3. Kitching, Laura (2009) Paintings by George Spencer Watson up for auction Dorset Echo, 5 December]