George Spencer Watson 1869 - 1934

A precocious talent, Watson joined the Royal Academy Schools in 1889, winning the school’s Silver Medal in 1889 and 1891 and the Landseer Scholarship in 1892. He exhibited his first work at the Royal Academy in 1891, aged only 23. His exceptional ability as a painter in oil led to significant commissions and he rose to become one of the most significant and talented portrait and genre painters of the Edwardian period. Retrospective exhibitions were held at the Galerie Heinemann, Munich in 1912, and at the Fine Art Society in 1914. His work is represented in the Tate Gallery, Harris Art Gallery in Preston, collections in Bournemouth, Liverpool, Plymouth and National Gallery of Canada (see Art UK).