George Spencer Watson R.O.I., R.P., A.R.A., R.A. (8 March 1869, in London – 11 April 1934, in London) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

of the late romantic school who sometimes worked in the style of the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

Career

He studied at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

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 The Royal Institute of Oil Painters, also known as ROI, is an association of painters in London, England, and is the only major art society which features work done only in oil. It is a member society of the Federation of British Artists. Histor ...

(ROI) in 1900,

Royal Society of Portrait Painters The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a charity based at Carlton House Terrace, SW1, London that promotes the practice and appreciation of portraiture. Its Annual Exhibition of portraiture is held at Mall Galleries, and it runs a commissio ...

(RP) in 1904,

Associate of the Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

in 1923, and a Member of the

(RA) in 1932. His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

Personal life

In 1909 he married Hilda Mary Gardiner, a dancer and mime artist, and follower of the actor

Edward Gordon Craig Edward Henry Gordon CraigSome sources give "Henry Edward Gordon Craig". (born Edward Godwin; 16 January 1872 – 29 July 1966), sometimes known as Gordon Craig, was an English modernist theatre practitioner; he worked as an actor, director and ...

. They had a daughter,

Mary Spencer Watson Mary Spencer Watson (7 May 1913 – 7 March 2006) was an English sculptor. Watson was born in London and spent most of her life in Dorset and was inspired by watching masons carving Purbeck stone, close to her family home there. Her works can ...

(1913–2006), who became a

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. In the year of 1923 he bought Dunshay Manor in the hills of the

Isle of Purbeck The Isle of Purbeck is a peninsula in Dorset, England. It is bordered by water on three sides: the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the n ...

, after already having spent holidays in nearby

Swanage Swanage () is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately south of Poole and east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civil ...

. He died in London at age 65 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 St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, United Kingdom. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. T ...

Works

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 The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

. Retrospective exhibitions were held at the Galerie Heinemann,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

in 1912, and at the

Fine Art Society The Fine Art Society is a gallery based in both London and in Edinburgh's New Town (originally Bourne Fine Art, established 1978). The New Bond Street, London gallery closed its doors in August 2018 after being occupied by The Fine Art Society si ...

in 1914. His work ''A Lady in Black'' (1922) is owned by the

Tate Collection Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

. * Cynthia - circa 1932 * A Cottage Garden - 1928 (view of Dunshay) * The Adoration - 19?? * The Creation -1921 -Wolverhampton Art Gallery, West Midlands, UK * The Birth of Venus - 1933 - Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Bournemouth, UK * Peter and the bear -1915 * Portrait of Monica Boyd - 1909 * Portrait of Esther Harris - 1904 * Portrait of James Harris (accountant) and his dog * Dorothy Mulloch 1919 * The Fountain - 1900 * Sir Francis Eden Lacey, as Secretary of the MCC, 1928. * Girl in a Feathered Hat * Marishka - nude * The Three Wise Kings - held by Rochdale Art Gallery, Lancashire, UK * Nude 1927 - Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, Lancashire, UK, purchase for £300 by Preston Town Council 1927 * Mary, 1932 Oil on canvas, of his daughter ary Spencer Watsonheld by the Royal Academy * My lady of the rose * Miss Beaton, 1934, 'Baba' Beaton, (Mrs. Alec Hambro) * George Elkington Past Master Quatuor Coronati Lodge (2076) * Sir Montague Sharpe - Middlesex Guildhall Collection * Four Loves I found, a Woman, a Child, a Horse and a Hound - 1922 * A picnic at Portofino, 1911 * The Saddler's Daughter (Mary Spencer Watson) * The orange dress, 1926Christie's, Sale 9603, Lot 153
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Career

Personal life

Works

Gallery

References

External links