Arthur Watts (illustrator)
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Arthur George Watts DSO (1883–1935) was an illustrator and artist who was killed in an airplane crash in the Swiss Alps.


Early life and education

Watts was born in Rochester, Kent, in 1883, the son of Joseph Watts, Deputy Surgeon-General in the
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, and his wife Alice. His father retired early, and the family lived in
Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half ...
and Norwood in south-east London, where the family usually employed a resident cook and housemaid, and a nurse while the children were young. Educated at
Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...
, Watts was a talented artist from an early age and inked funny drawings in the margins of his school books; at Crystal Palace Poster Academy he was awarded a silver medal for merit in 1901. From the age of 17 he was educated at the
Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
, from where he went to the Free Arts Schools in Antwerp and then
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,
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and
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. He was reportedly one of the London arts schools crowd who holidayed regularly in St Ives, Cornwall, during the Edwardian period.


Naval service

Watts served in World War I in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, attaining the rank of commander and receiving the
Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...
for his bravery in the
Zeebrugge Raid The Zeebrugge Raid ( nl, Aanval op de haven van Zeebrugge; ) on 23 April 1918, was an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port of Bruges-Zeebrugge. The British intended to sink obsolete ships in the canal entrance, to prevent Germ ...
in 1918. He received a temporary commission as sub-lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in December 1914, and on 18 December 1915 he was promoted to temporary
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
. In command of motor launch ML.239 in April 1918 he played a distinguished part in the "combined operation" known as the Zeebrugge Raid, also participating in the operations at
Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...
in May 1918 when HMS ''Vindictive'' was sunk to block the harbor entrance. Watts was awarded the Distinguished Service Order as an acting
lieutenant-commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...
on 27 August 1918.


Career

By 1904 he was providing humorous and other illustrations for papers such as the ''
Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...
'', ''
The Bystander ''The Bystander'' was a British weekly tabloid magazine that featured reviews, topical drawings, cartoons and short stories. Published from Fleet Street, it was established in 1903 by George Holt Thomas. Its first editor, William Comyns Beaum ...
'', ''
Pearson's Magazine ''Pearson's Magazine'' was a monthly periodical that first appeared in Britain in 1896. A US version began publication in 1899. It specialised in speculative literature, political discussion, often of a socialist bent, and the arts. Its contribut ...
'' and ''
London Opinion ''London Opinion and Today'', often known as ''London Opinion'', was a British magazine published from 1903 until 1954, when it was merged with Pearson's '' Men Only''. It ran weekly from 26 December 1903 to 27 June 1931, and was then published m ...
''."Arthur Watts"
(AskArt.com).
In 1911 Watts was living with his wife of one year and their baby daughter Margaret at 21A Regents Park Road in central London, where he worked from a studio at home as a successful illustrator. His first drawing for ''
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'', the English humour magazine, was published in 1912, and his work, particularly cartoons, continued to appear regularly until the time of his death, having become a regular feature after 1921. He also did four drawings a week for '' Radio Times''; illustrated about a dozen books, including ''Diary of a Provincial Lady'' by
E M Delafield Edmée Elizabeth Monica Dashwood, née de la Pasture (9 June 1890 – 2 December 1943), commonly known as E. M. Delafield, was a prolific English author. She is best known for her largely autobiographical ''Diary of a Provincial Lady'', wh ...
; and designed travel posters for the railways and the
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. He edited and illustrated ''A Painter's Anthology''. Many of Watts' cartoons highlighted the class distinctions that existed in the UK in the nineteen-twenties and thirties. They offered a social commentary and an acute observation of differences in accent, vocabulary, dress, drinking habits and even table manners. Some of his sharpest barbs were aimed at the "modern" art of the period, the nouveau riche, day trippers, social climbers and hen-pecked husbands. His contorted figures in paint, plaster and stone are clever caricatures of what he saw around him.


Family

Watts married Phyllis Sachs, a fellow artist, in 1910. Their only child, Alice Margaret, became costume designer Margaret Furse. Phyllis died in 1922, and in 1925 he married Marjorie Dawson Scott (daughter of PEN Club founder
Catherine Amy Dawson Scott Catherine Amy Dawson Scott (August 1865 – 4 November 1934) was an English writer, playwright and poet. She is best known as a co-founder (in 1921) of International PEN, a worldwide association of writers. In her later years she became a kee ...
), by whom he had three children.Obituary. ''The Times''. 22 July 1935. The family lived in Holly-place, Hampstead. Their daughter Marjorie Ann Watts also became an illustrator, and a writer. Their son Simon Watts (born 1930) emigrated to the United States and graduated from MIT with an engineering degree. He chose to pursue a career as a furniture maker and boat builder and is the author of several books on woodworking and boat building.


Death in an air crash

Watts was killed at about 12:15 hours on Saturday, 20 July 1935 when travelling aboard
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(Royal Dutch Airlines) Douglas DC-2 (registration "PH-AKG") named "Gaai" on a scheduled flight from
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, Italy to
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, Netherlands, via
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, Germany. The aircraft, which had recently been delivered from the manufacturers, took off from Milan at 11:36 hours. While flying at 5000 m altitude, it suffered with ice build up and had to descend to 3000 m, at which altitude it was flying between mountains surrounded by clouds. Reportedly the crew may have entered the wrong mountain pass as they circled a valley in cloud and rain, possibly attempting to force land wheels-up when the aircraft stalled and crashed near the
San Bernardino Pass San Bernardino Pass ( it, Passo del San Bernardino, german: Bernhardinpass, ) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting the Hinterrhein (river), Hinterrhein and the Mesolcina (Misox) valleys between Thusis (canton of Graubünden) and B ...
near Pian San Giacomo, killing all four crew and all nine passengers. Watts was hurrying home from Milan to be with his wife, who had given birth to their third child four days earlier. ''The Times of London'' on 22 July 1935 carried an article "Dutch Air Disaster: Liner's crash in Alps", which states that the accident occurred a short distance south of the San Bernardino Pass on the Pian San Giacomo, a small plateau between high mountains at an altitude of 3,845 feet, about 2.5 miles from the village of Mesocco. The story reported that the aircraft was at too low an altitude to fly over the mountains towards San Bernardino but found the southern end of the pass blocked by a mass of dark clouds. At that time it was believed to have either been struck by lightning or dragged down by an air current as it suddenly hit the ground from a height of 600 feet. Rescuers found everybody dead, except for a woman who died soon afterwards. When police attended they recovered a large amount of money and mail-bags. An investigation found that the storm in the area had been so violent that swollen rivers had swept away two bridges, the local power plant had been put out of action and that the weather had played a significant part in the accident. The dead were removed to a small chapel at San Giacomo to await instructions for their disposition.''The Times'', Dutch Air Disaster article - 22 July 1935


Selected works

Articles and essays * ''Black and White Drawing – Solving Some of Its Problems.'' * "A Three-Legged Cruise" (''
Yachting Monthly ''Yachting Monthly'' is a monthly magazine about yachting published by Future PLC. It is edited by Theo Stocker. History and profile At its launch in 1906, from the offices of The Field, ''The Manchester Guardian'' reviewed the first issue desc ...
'', August to November 1913) – 4 parts * "The Scented Trawler" (''Yachting Monthly'', 1917) – recounts a brief adventure at sea while on duty with the Auxlilary Patrol during World War I Books illustrated * ''A Painter's Anthology'' – Arthur Watts * ''Diary of a Provincial Lady'' –
E M Delafield Edmée Elizabeth Monica Dashwood, née de la Pasture (9 June 1890 – 2 December 1943), commonly known as E. M. Delafield, was a prolific English author. She is best known for her largely autobiographical ''Diary of a Provincial Lady'', wh ...
* ''The Provincial Lady in London'' – E M Delafield * ''The Provincial Lady Goes Further'' – E M Delafield * ''Poems of Impudence'' – Evoe ( E V Knox) * ''So, This is Science'' –
H F Ellis Humphry Francis Ellis (17 July 1907 – 8 December 2000) was an English comic writer. He created A. J. Wentworth, the ineffectual schoolmaster whose fictional diaries were first published in the magazine ''Punch''. Life Humphry Francis Ellis was b ...
* ''The Navy and Defense'' – Lord Chatfield (includes a single sketch which Watts provided for an event aboard at which time he also produced this illustration for Punch) * ''Peeps at Parnasus: A Delicious Survey, Half Parody, Half Caricature, of the Whole Pageant of English Verse-Malicious and Gay.'' – Olga Katzin * ''The Tragedy of Mr. Punch: A Fantastic Play in Prologue and One Act'' –
Russell Thorndike Arthur Russell Thorndike (6 February 1885 – 7 November 1972) was a British actor and novelist, best known for the Doctor Syn of Romney Marsh novels. Less well-known than his sister Sybil but equally versatile, Russell Thorndike's first love ...
and Reinald Arkell * ''The Horoscope. A Biographical Poem in Three Books With an Epilogue.'' – Horace Horsnell


References


Further reading

* ''The Art of Arthur Watts''. Edited by Simon Watts. Ottawa: Lee Valley. 2003.


External links


The Art of Arthur Watts
website maintained by Watts' family * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watts Arthur British cartoonists 1883 births 1935 deaths Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Royal Navy officers of World War I Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Switzerland Aviation accidents and incidents in 1935 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1935 The New Yorker people