Amelia Montague Watson (1856–1934) was an American watercolorist well known for her work in

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...

Biography

Born in

East Windsor Hill, Connecticut East Windsor Hill Historic District is a historic district (United States), historic district located in the northwestern corner of the town of South Windsor, Connecticut. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The di ...

on March 2, 1856, to Sarah (Bolles) and Reed Watson, she received a private education. Watson became a watercolorist. Her younger sister, Edith, also painted watercolors and exhibited with Amelia, before becoming a successful photographer in Canada.

Career

She taught painting at a Martha's Vineyard summer school for twenty years in the last 19th century and exhibited in major east coast cities. In 1888 and 1889 she taught at the short-lived Martha's Vineyard Summer Institute. In a bulletin, the institute described her classes for the Department of Painting: In 1894, Watson submitted a note regarding the taming of a

chipping sparrow The chipping sparrow (''Spizella passerina'') is a species of New World sparrow, a passerine bird in the family Passerellidae. It is widespread, fairly tame, and common across most of its North American range. There are two subspecies, the east ...

which was published in '' The Auk''. Watson produced a series of illustrations of scenes from

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural su ...

's "excursion" book, ''Cape Cod''. Originally a gift for her companion

Margaret Warner Morley Margaret Warner Morley (February 17, 1858 in Montrose, Iowa – December 12, 1923 in Washington, D.C.) was an American educator, biologist, and author of many children's books on nature and biology. Biography Morley grew up in Brooklyn. She st ...

, they were incorporated into an 1896 illustrated edition of the book published by Houghton Mifflin. A note in the book described "marginal sketches in color made by the artist as she read the successive chapters amid the scenes characterized by Thoreau. Thus she saw the sand, the lighthouse, the ocean, the sails, the fishermen, the weather-beaten houses, and when Thoreau threw in a Floridian contrast she was able happily to jot down a note in color from her own Florida sketches."

References

1856 births 1934 deaths 19th-century American painters American women painters 19th-century American women artists 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women artists People from South Windsor, Connecticut {{US-painter-1850s-stub