AdoptA WATTS
Photograph of a young boy appreciating Nemesis G F Watts, Nemesis, Date unknown, gesso model possibly for the study of Hope
An introduction by Perdita Hunt, Director of Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village
A
dopt a Watts was an initiative launched in 2002 to secure the long term care and preservation of Watts Gallery Trust’s collection of paintings, sculpture and drawings by the most eminent Victorian artist, G F Watts OM RA (1817-1904).
Over 100 artworks have been adopted and we are hugely grateful to our adopters, many of whom have been with us since the early days, to help create the momentum which has seen so many artworks safeguarded for the benefit of future generations. I am delighted to launch this beautifully illustrated book with excerpts written by our adopters many of whom have forged a personal bond with their chosen artwork - in celebration of a wedding anniversary or birthday, in memory of a loved one or simply because they have an emotional connection to a particular piece. As we look to the future, I am inspired by our adopters’ comments and support at such a crucial time for Watts Gallery Trust as we move forward with our ambition to complete an artists’ village as a national beacon for the Arts & Crafts movement, and to create an international network of artists’ studio-house museums. Our hope is that others will join the Adopt a Watts scheme as we work towards increasing the number of adopted works which are in desperate need of conservation. This will help us complete the displays at Watts Studios which opened to the public in the spring of 2016; and in the future, Limnerslease, the home G F Watts and his wife the ceramic artist, Mary Watts. Thank you to all our adopters and welcome to our new adopters.
Watts Gallery Trust is immensely grateful to our members of the Adopt A Watts Scheme: Mrs Moore Robertson (Sargent)
Jan and Warren Adelson
Chalk Compositional Study for ‘Life’s Illusions’ (1849)
David Anstice
Watercolour Study for the Fresco ‘Justice: A Hemicycle of Lawgivers’
Dr Jill Armitage and Tom Sawyer
Jane Bailey Standing Female Figure in Dress, Unidentified Portrait Study, Possibly for ‘Helen Rose Huth’ Orpheus and Eurydice Pencil Thumbnail Sketch of ‘Hope
John Beale Tom and Ingrid Beazley
Silverpoint Portrait Study of Virginia Martin Beisly Pattle Sanguine and Grey Chalk Bustlength Study of a Youth with Curly Red Hair (for unknown mythological or literary subject, related to ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’ by Titian)
Billmeir Charitable Trust
Evolution
Katie Butcher
Study for the Portrait of Edward VII as H.R.H. Edward Albert Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII)
Charterhouse School
Shared adoption of Virginia Dalrymple green dress
Compton Parish Council
Shared adoption of Virginia Dalrymple green dress
Compton Village Hall
Clytie also known as Sunflower
Alexander and Mary Creswell
Pencil Study of the Figure of Death for ‘Love and Death’
In Memory of Keith Dale
Lady Dalrymple also known as Sophia Dalrymple
Anna Dalrymple for Sir Hew Dalrymple and his granddaughter Sophia Dalrymple
Lilian
David Davis, Chairman, Surrey County Council
The De Laszlo Foundation Full-scale gesso model for the commemorative sculpture of Alfred Lord Tennyson Black and White Chalk Portrait Study of Mrs Leslie Stephens (Head and Shoulders)
Marion Dell
Self-Portrait of G F Watts Aged Seventeen also known as Self-Portrait as a Young Man
Dr John Dobson and Sheila Dobson
Endymion
Sir Andrew and Lady Duff Gordon
Under a Dry Arch
Duke of Kent School
Pen and Ink Studies of Rider and Horse for ‘Physical Energy’
ExxonMobil
Chalk Study for ‘Clytie’
Colin Ford CBE and Sue Grayson Ford MBE
Aristides and the Shepherd
The George John and Sheilah Livanos Charitable Trust
Pencil Study of a Man’s Frowned Face, Study of Anger (Copy after an Unknown Source)
Study of a Knight with a Lady
David Graham, in memory of Viv Smith, a very special friend
The Wounded Heron
Alistair Gray OBE and Lyn Gray
Bust-length Study of a Heroic Young Male Mary Seton Watts’s Diaries
Dr Desna Greenhow
Pencil Thumbnail Sketch of ‘Hope’
Virginia Heffernan
Sunset on the Alps
Susan and Anthony Holmes
Shared adoption of Virginia Dalrymple green dress.
Richard Jefferies
The Good Samaritan
Henry and Betty Jones
Black and White Chalk Study of a Cast of the Right Hand (From an Unknown Cast)
Sir Mark Jones
Black Chalk Study for ‘The Minotaur’
Shared adoption of Virginia Dalrymple green dress.
Rosalind Lawson
Full-Scale Gesso Model for ‘Physical Energy’
John Lewis OBE
May Princep
Lucy and Tim Lindholm
Georgina Treherne For He Had Great Possessions
Marina Logan-Bruce
Pencil Thumbnail Sketch of Figures in ‘Love and Life’
George and Angie Loudon
Progress
Philip Martyn
Drawing of Ellen Terry, with loose long hair
Dr Colette Metcalfe
Fiesole
Alan Midgley and Jan Chapman
A Parasite
NADFAS Society in the East Surrey Area
John Stuart Mill
Robert Napier CBE
Mrs G F Watts (Backview)
Annie Norman, in memory of AVB (Nick) Norman
Miss Virginia Julian Dalrymple also known as Mrs Francis Champneys
NPU Consultants
Rachel Gurney
Richard Ormond CBE and Professor Leonée Ormond
Pencil Thumbnail Sketch of ‘Hope’ Pencil Self-Portrait of G F Watts
John King
Jacob and Esau
Jamie and Julia Korner
Surrey Woodland also known as End of the Day
Lady Laidlaw, in memory of Helen Violet Pritchard
The Irish Famine
Ann Laver
Caricature of G F Watts as an Epsom Beggar
Peter Palmer Large Chalk Study of the Figure of Messenger for the oil painting ‘The Messenger’; study of a draped, standing female figure with an infant
Found Drowned
David Pike
Shared adoption of Violet Lindsay
Derek Tanous
Lillie Langtry also known as The Dean’s Daughter
Shared adoption of Virginia Dalrymple green dress
Denise Topolski
Eve Tempted
Iris
Dr Nicholas Tromans and Dr Alison Smith
Eve Repentent
Colour Chalk Study of Virginia Julian Dalrymple
Jane Turner
Mrs G F Watts
The girls and alumnae of Prior’s Field School
Shared adoption of Virginia Dalrymple green dress
Green Summer
After the Deluge
Love Triumphant
Keith and Sue Rawlings in celebration of John and Sheila Dobson’s 50 years of marriage Mark and Deborah Rees
Florence Nightingale
Jim and Patricia Rothman
Thomas Hughes
Rugby School
Wax Maquette for oil painting ‘Love Sarah Selzer (former Surrey County Councillor in Guildford 2005-2009) Steering the Boat of Humanity’
Dr & Mrs John Vardon
Charcoal Self-Portrait Study known as ‘Fear’ Paolo and Francesca
Lady Verey
Sower of the Systems
Anthea Vernell
Two Pen and Ink Studies of the Mountains (possibly for ‘Sunset on the Alps’) Portrait of Dr J Joachim also known as ‘A Lamplight Study’
Carol Wates
Lady Somers
Philip Sebastian, 9th Lord Somers
Song of the Shirt
A Semptress
Self Portrait in the Style of Van Dyck Neil Watts
A Sea Ghost
Shalford Decorative and Fine Arts Society
Pencil self-portrait study Sanguine and gray chalk bust-length
Slumber of the Ages
John and Kate Siebert
Study of a Youth for Bacchus and Ariadne
Sanguine Portrait of Lady Bagot Drawing of Ellen Terry, with loose long hair
Yvonne Skinner
Shared adoption of Violet Lindsay
Julian Spencer-Smith
Hazel Watson
Lady Archibald Campbell 1860 - 1869 Oil on canvas This painting is available for adoption for £1,500 for a period of five years.
The Adopt a Watts scheme offers you the opportunity to have a personal association with a painting, drawing or sculpture by the 19th century’s most celebrated British artist, G F Watts. You can exclusively adopt any available work from Watts Gallery Trust’s collection. In return, adoption is granted for five years and your name is engraved on a beautifully handcrafted plaque and placed on the frame or next to your chosen artwork.Your adoption will ensure the preservation and long term care of your chosen artwork and our collection as a whole, saving it for future generations. If you are interested in joining the Adopt a Watts scheme, please contact Development Officer Sarah James on 01483 901 809 or email developmentofficer@wattsgallery.org.uk.
Watercolour Study for the Fresco 'Justice: A Hemicycle of Lawgivers' Adopted by Dr Jill Armitage and Tom Sawyer
W
atts probably first met my relative Edward Armitage when they were joint prizewinners in the 1842 competition for fresco designs for the new Palace of Westminster. Watts used his prize money to travel to Italy, stopping en route in Paris, where he stayed with Armitage. Armitage was training under Delaroche at the École des Beaux Arts and helping him with his massive mural, Hemicycle, based on Raphael’s School of Athens. Armitage would have taken Watts to see this, and it was almost certainly an inspiration for Watts’s later fresco at Lincoln’s Inn, Justice: A Hemicycle of Lawgivers, for which this watercolour was a preparatory study. Watts used a number of his friends as models, with Armitage modeling for the Earl of Pembroke, seen bottom right wearing chain mail and holding Magna Carta. The Adopt a Watts scheme provides an excellent means through which to support Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village, and we were delighted to be able to select this particular work.
Standing Female Figure in Dress, Unidentified Portrait Study, Possibly for 'Helen Rose Huth' Adopted by Jane Bailey
I
am keen to support the Gallery and this scheme as I have watched with great admiration how the Artists’ Village has developed, like a ‘phoenix arising from the ashes’, jumping a century in ten years. It is inspirational to see how it is humming with vitality and ideas. When I first saw the drawing Standing Female Figure in a Dress I was struck by its beauty. The folds of the dress highlighted in white are superbly observed, and the study instantly reminded me of a favourite drawing by Augustus John of Dorelia in a long dress, though I know of no direct connection.
Orpheus and Eurydice Adopted by John Beale Orpheus and Eurydice perfectly
captures the couple’s heroic sadness at the heart of this tragic myth. It is to me one of Watts’s most moving works. When Watts Gallery reopened in 2011 after the dramatically successful restoration project, I wanted to support the display of the collection by making a donation via the Adopt a Watts scheme. To have my name associated with this great painting was a bonus. Orpheus and Eurydice is a legend that Watts returned to again and again from the 1860s onwards. The Greek legend is a tale of death and loss. Ovid and Virgil tell of Eurydice’s death from a snake bite and her subsequent descent into Hades. Devastated
by his loss, her musician husband, Orpheus, descends into Hades in a bid to reclaim her: in playing his lyre, he charms both Pluto and Prosperine who agree to release Eurydice. But only on the condition that Orpheus does not look back once he and Eurydice begin their climb back to the world. As husband and wife ascend to daylight, Orpheus cannot resist and glances back to look at Eurydice. Watts’s painting captures this moment: on Orpheus’ backward glance, Eurydice vanishes. She collapses and dies; Orpheus drops his lyre to reach for her, but she has already begun to fall backwards into Hades. Painted during a time when Watts used subdued tints with very little colour, the painting has a very monochrome
effect. The grey emphasises the extreme paleness of Eurydice’s skin and produces an ethereal effect. This is in contrast to Orpheus’ extremely healthy and fleshy figure.
Pencil Thumbnail Sketch of 'Hope' Adopted by Tom and Ingrid Beazley
W
e chose Hope because of its message - however bad things can seem to be, if you look (listen) hard enough, it is possible to find hope. We love its universal appeal; the way people from a Holocaust survivor to Barack Obama can identify with it and be inspired. We have one of Phil Disley’s limited edition prints of Obama as Hope. I found this quote by G F Watts, which I hope is correct: ‘I want to make people think. My intention has not been so much to paint pictures that will charm the eye as to suggest great thoughts that will appeal to the imagination and the heart, and kindle all that is best and noblest in humanity.’ It does, however, ‘charm the eye’ too. We love the way Hope has been reproduced in various forms from political cartoons to stamps, often as in this case, to say something. Although mankind is destroying the world, there is still hope.
Evolution Adopted by Katie Butcher As a Friend of the gallery since 2007 and a volunteer steward as well, I was eager to financially support the gallery in a new way and felt
the Adopt a Watts scheme was a wonderful way to do this. However, when it came to choosing a painting I felt that rather than adopt one of the more ‘popular’ paintings instead I would choose perhaps one of the less obviously beautiful or favoured Watts paintings. Evolution is emotive to me; it portrays the Earth mother and children, and she is aloof, rather than devoted as one may expect. There is a certain terribleness as the children are in conflict with one another vying for her attention. Fighting to survive, they are ruthless - the strong will overcome the weak. Watts was interested in the concept of evolution and he makes no attempt to beautify what is, in essence, the human struggle for survival. His search for a balance between science and spirituality is something he experimented with in his art throughout his lifetime and is still relatable today.
Study for the Portrait of Edward VII as HRH Edward Albert Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) Adopted by Charterhouse School This portrait was commissioned by the Benchers of the Middle Temple in 1874. It is the only known painting by Watts of a future
monarch and one of very few full length portraits by the artist. Watts enjoyed the company of the Prince during his sittings, but due to delayed sittings and the different light in each sitting (the Prince was not always able to come to Watts’s studio), he was never happy with the picture. The Prince’s schedule meant that only some of the portrait could be painted from life. When the painting was shown it was quite heavily criticised, so Watts suggested that Frank Holl take over the commission, and he retained the picture for his own collection.
Virginia Dalrymple Green Dress Adopted by Compton Parish Council, Compton Village Association, Compton Village Hall, Compton Parochial Church Council, Denise Topolski, Jane Turner, Richard Jefferies and Rosalind Lawson
Artists’ Village through being a NADFAS Young Arts Area Representative, looking after the 18 societies of West Surrey. Discovering such an amazing place almost on my doorstep was a revelation, and I became a supporter and Friend.
I put Zenzie Tinker, a textile conservator, in touch with Mark. Zenzie had trained textile Heritage Volunteers in the area and had previously packed the dress so it could be stored safely. When Zenzie examined the dress and the display mannequin, it became clear that a lot of conservation work had to done, and that the mannequin was no longer suitable.
I was very privileged to be able to visit during the conservation and rebuilding process, and in discussions with Perdita Hunt and Mark Bills, we looked at how NADFAS and I personally could support the Artists’ Village further. This is how I learned about the Green Dress.
Because of my close association with the Artists’ Village and this unique historical artefact, I wanted to contribute to the conservation and became a Patron. Seeing the dress in situ next to the portrait at the new gallery's opening evening was a very proud moment.
Denise Topolski
I became involved with Watts Gallery -
Jane Turner
Having adopted the pastel of Virginia
Dalrymple a few years earlier, I was tempted by the idea of helping to preserve the beautiful green dress which Virginia wore in the full-length portrait Watts did of her as an adult. The dress had come into the Gallery’s collection through the generosity of Virginia’s descendants but was in very poor condition. I thought it would be appropriate if a group of friends and organisations in the village could contribute, and the previous curator, Richard Jefferies, generously joined in. The dress has been displayed in the Richard Jefferies Gallery.
Clytie (also known as ‘Sunflower’) Adopted by Alexander & Mary Creswell We were delighted to have the
opportunity to Adopt a Watts. It has been a great way of getting to know the collection a little better, and perhaps it is the next best thing to having a Watts on our wall at home. That said, I would be hard pressed to choose between Watts's sculpture and his painting, so for us Clytie was the perfect painting to adopt. It is difficult to know if Watts’s sculpture or painting of Clytie came first, though personally I feel the painting is a work towards the sculpture. In the painting, the flesh tones are dominant but otherwise the composition of the bust is virtually identical to the sculpture. The head is lost in profile and the placement of the
arms suggests a real sense of movement, although uncomfortably so. The neck is stretched, elongated, following the sun. The composition is almost baroque and seems to me unlike much of Watts’s other work. In Ovid’s legend, the nymph Clytie is deserted by her lover Helios, the sun god. She is transformed into a sunflower and constantly turns to follow the daily passage of her lost love through the sky. The harshness of this tale aside, I like the idea of Clytie changing into a sunflower and pursuing her lover forever in her new form. The strength of the physical movement in both the painting and the sculpture
are that of an undeniable act of nature. Clytie in bronze is a curiously masculine figure, whereas the figure in the painting is muscular but far more feminine, her flesh tones and hair are delicately portrayed and contrast powerfully with the dark of the leaves behind as she is consumed by nature’s power.
Lady Dalrymple (also known as ‘Sophia Dalrymple’) Adopted by Anna Dalrymple for Sir Hew Dalrymple and his granddaughter Sophia Dalrymple My husband Robert and I are descendants of two of the Pattle sisters. Julia Margaret Cameron is my Great, Great, Great Grandmother
and her youngest sister Sophia Dalrymple is Robert's Great, Great Grandmother. We named our second daughter Sophia; it is a lovely name and linked the two sisters and our relationship to them. I have seen copies of the painting for as long as I can remember, and my father in law, Sophia Dalrymple’s great grandson, likes to keep a store of postcards, which he often sends out as thank yous.
When Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village began their appeal for adoptees I liked the idea of adopting Sophia for her great grandson, Hew Dalrymple, and his granddaughter, the present Sophia Dalrymple. For me it is a very appealing painting: the simplicity of her dress, the beautiful necklace she is wearing and the still-contemporary background and colours she is standing in make it a pleasure to look at always.
Lilian Adopted by David Davis, Chairman, Surrey County Council Lilian attracted me at the time I was the Chairman of Surrey County Council, and part of my role was to be the public face of the council’s work. Lilian, with her open, frank and honest expression, seemed to portray exactly what I was trying to be.
I discovered that Lilian in real life was an orphan who was adopted by George and Mary Watts. I hope she was happy with them until she married and then happy ever afterwards. I drew a parallel with the County Council acting as corporate parent, caring for vulnerable children and leading them, hopefully through adoption by loving parents, to a contented life. So this painting has some symbolism for me.
Full-scale gesso model for the commemorative sculpture of Alfred Lord Tennyson Adopted by The De Laszlo Foundation
T
his huge gesso grosso sculpture shows Tennyson and his wolfhound Karenina at Lincoln. His dog looks at him patiently with tenderness, as Tennyson contemplates a little root and stem of a flower that he holds in his hand. The sculpture shows Tennyson’s love of nature. Watts was a close friend of the Poet Laureate and painted him six times during his lifetime. He started this sculpture in 1898. There were issues with structural support due to the huge size, and surprisingly, it is thought Karenina may have been introduced for support.You would not believe this to look at the sculpture, as she is such an integral and endearing part of the piece. This sculpture was sent for casting in late 1903, but unfortunately, Watts died before seeing the completed bronze version of it erected in the precinct of Lincoln Cathedral in 1905. It is a wonderful piece and shows such tenderness in its subject. The sculpture is one that is both endearing and awe-inspiring to look at.
Self-Portrait of G F Watts Aged Seventeen (also known as ‘Self-Portrait as a Young Man’) Adopted by Dr John and Sheila Dobson Simon and Caroline chose Self-Portrait
of G F Watts Aged Seventeen for their parents, Dr John and Sheila Dobson, who are tireless and dedicated volunteers at Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village. Their support and enthusiasm for the Gallery inspired Caroline and Simon to Adopt a Watts as a gift for them. This painting captures a youthful Romantic, set upon his path as an artist, and is quite lovely to look at. As events turned out, John Dobson sadly passed away in May 2012, and the adoption serves as a memorial to his work at the Gallery. Mary Watts commented in her catalogue
that this portrait of Watts was considered ‘the earliest discovered so far’. It was painted immediately before Watts was admitted as a student of the Royal Academy and sums up his early ambitions as an artist. Painted three years before Queen Victoria came to the throne, it presents an image of the artist as a Romantic. It shows an artist aware of his own genius and fully conscious of the image he wished to project. Watts used self-portraits as a way of experimenting with style. In fact, if you look closely you can see a small sketch of a seated male nude in the bottom left of the painting. This demonstrates Watts’s ‘off the cuff ’ approach to his self-portraits, about which Watts himself commented:
‘I paint myself constantly; that is to say, whenever I want to make an experiment in method or colour, and am not in the humour to make a design.’ Despite Watts’s initial reticence to show self-portraits, this portrait was made very public during his lifetime.
Endymion Adopted by Sir Andrew and Lady Duff-Gordon We have always been particularly attracted to this picture because of its beauty and its romantic portrayal of the classical story of the moon goddess falling in love with the handsome, sleeping shepherd boy. John Keats’ poem, also entitled Endymion, has always been a favourite of ours and fits with the picture perfectly: A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. We do not have any links with Endymion, as most of our collection of Watts’s drawings and paintings are of family members, as they became great friends when he stayed with the Duff Gordons in Italy. Nonetheless we think it is one of his most pleasing symbolist pictures, and we like the little sheep dog in the corner.
Chalk Study for ‘Clytie’ Adopted by Colin Ford CBE and Sue Grayson Ford MBE My link to G F Watts comes from nearly
forty years’ interest in his close friend Julia Margaret Cameron, the great Victorian photographer, who took many portraits of him. When I visited Watts Gallery in 1975, researching my first book on Cameron, the then curator, Wilfrid Blunt, showed me some of Watts’s works which were not on display. In one, an early version of The Prodigal Son, I believed I recognised the model used by Cameron in one of her most impressive pictures, Iago – Study from an Italian (1867). Wilfrid told me that the man was Alessandro Colorossi, and that he also appeared in Watts’s paintings Genaro – an Italian Nobleman (1864), Samson
(1871) and Angel Removing the Curse of Cain (1885). I later read in Mary Watts’s biography of her husband that ‘the muscles for the Clytie were carefully studied from a well-known Italian model of the name of Colorossi.’ So you can see what attracted Sue Grayson Ford and me to Clytie! In fact, my research led me to discover that the model’s correct name was Angelo Colarossi, who – as one biographer of John Singer Sargent wrote – ‘was among the most famous of the London model hierarchy, most of them Italians, who had been found to possess in greater degree than the English the feeling for classical stance required by the art of the period’. Colarossi also posed for several other
painters of the period, including Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911), Jean Léon Gérôme (1824-1904), William Blake Richmond (1842-1921), Frederick Sandys (1829-1904) and John Singer Sargent 1856-1925). My identification of Colarossi has been unchallenged for 37 years, but a recent article in the British Art Journal has rather persuasively suggested that the model was actually Alessandro di Marco. If I have been wrong all this time, I have no problem in accepting the fact: history – especially art history – moves on. But nothing will shake my admiration for Colarossi, for Watts and for the drawing of Clytie, which my wife and I have adopted.
Aristides and the Shepherd Adopted by The George John and Sheilah Livanos Charitable Trust The Hope Appeal was a great challenge, and we the Trustees of The George John and Sheilah Livanos Charitable Trust were so glad
that we were able to support the Appeal. We are most appreciative that Watts Gallery Trustees so generously named the entrance gallery as The Livanos Gallery. It seemed to us to be very appropriate, therefore, that we should adopt the great Watts picture of Aristides and the Shepherd to hang on the end wall of the Livanos Gallery. Aristides, the Athenian statesman, played an important role in the great naval battle of Salamis in 480 BC when the Persian fleet was defeated. The combination of Athens and the naval connection encouraged us to think that this was an appropriate picture to sponsor in memory of George Livanos, a Greek seafarer and shipping man all his life, and his beloved Sheilah who so generously created the Charitable Trust.
The Wounded Heron Adopted by Alastair Gray OBE and Lyn Gray As soon as we became aware of the
Adopt a Watts scheme, we decided to try and adopt a picture. What we were looking for was a picture around which we could build a story. The first thing that struck us was that this was the picture we first saw on entering the old gallery several years ago. A lifelong interest in ornithology reinforced our thoughts on adoption, coupled with G F Watts’s prescient pioneering stand on cruelty to birds. On top of this was the fact that Watts hung this painting in the Royal Academy in 1837, at the incredibly young age of 17 years old! The skill shown in this painting from
such a young artist, is most obvious in Watts’s delicate treatment of the feathers, particularly around the head and eyes of the bird. Watts saw this heron in the window of a poulter’s shop and had to paint it as quickly possible, which makes the achievement all the more impressive. Although it was sold at the Royal Academy exhibition that it appeared in, Watts was offered the chance to buy it back 50 years later, which he took. However, when he saw the painting again he was depressed, claiming that it showed he couldn’t paint any better than all those years before! Watts’s revulsion at the cruel treatment of birds, which he viewed as a symbol of innocence and purity, and their use for
fashion and sport is also shown in this work. Although it appears to be a fine still life study, the background shows a falconer with a large feather in his cap, riding forwards to fetch his kill, while the viewer is drawn to the bird’s eyes and face, adding pathos to the apparently simple scene. We hope this painting continues to inspire people to think about bird conservation and be proud of all that has been achieved in the last 110 years or so, helped so powerfully by Watts’s pioneering efforts. Lastly we have achieved a goal, to find a way of remembering cousin Cathleen Cooper (1935-2010), much-missed friend and relative, who loved Watts Gallery.
Mary Seton Watts’s Diaries Adopted by Dr Desna Greenhow Mary Watts’s Diaries have a great fascination for me. I first looked at them when I was studying her interest in symbolism, as it appears
in her ceiling decorations at Limnerslease, and in Watts Chapel.
The tiny writing presents a challenge, but when I started to transcribe them, I realised that these were Mary’s intimate thoughts, written either in the early mornings or at the end of long, usually interesting days. I am sure she did not write them for posterity, and they show the daily preoccupations of someone who was very much her own person. Besides her concern for Signor, her husband, we gain a picture of the varied people who visited them, household problems as they appeared in the 1890s, rides in the afternoons, the Sunday walk to Puttenham church (she did not like the vicar at Compton) and, above all, their cosy evenings reading and discussing in their beloved niche at Limnerslease. Hearing that the diaries needed conservation, I was very happy indeed to adopt them.
Pencil Thumbnail Sketch of 'Hope' Adopted by Virginia Heffernan I discovered Watts Gallery - Artists’
Village during the summer of 2011 whilst running the North Downs Way. To be honest, I discovered The Tea Shop rather than the gallery at that stage. I was running the hills quite frequently because I had sadly fallen prey to anorexia nervosa and the associated disorder of exercise addiction, but the delicious tea served by friendly staff drew me in pretty well every time I passed that summer. Things went downhill during 2012, and by the end of that year I had lost my job and been in and out of hospital. ‘Hope’ was a word very much in my heart. In the early days of 2013, I began my
uphill journey and chanced again upon Watts Gallery. Entering the gallery for the first time I was amazed at what I found there: firstly at the impact of the paintings and sculptures, then by the friendliness of the volunteer guides. Finally I was mesmerized by the painting of Hope hiding somewhat shyly in a corner of the green gallery. How perfectly Watts had captured this slender girl in a darkness seemingly of her own making, crouching close to hear the tones from her little harp, to avoid slipping off the world. Very soon I was enrolled as a volunteer and Friend. I discovered that Adopt a Watts offered me a chance to make a real and long-term connection with Watts’s special painting. I adopted a tiny pencil sketch
which captures her posture and sentiment but with a special simplicity and freedom. G F and Mary Watts were passionate about bringing hope to a society that left many in poverty and despair, and they expressed this both through art and through practical involvement in their local community, giving training, apprenticeships and employment to local people with little education or prospects. The Adopt a Watts Scheme allows us to contribute to our art and heritage, and to the wonderful work that Watts Gallery Trust does to help those in difficult circumstances to express themselves and perhaps find hope for their own uphill path.
Sunset on the Alps Adopted by Susan and Anthony Holmes We first saw Sunset in the Alps in the Painting the Cosmos exhibition of G F Watts’s landscapes at Nevill Keating Pictures in St
James's in June 2006. That exhibition of his glorious landscapes fired our interest in Watts and began a continuing journey for us into his world and the great project to save Watts Gallery. We have adopted this picture because we feel that we have been really involved in the Hope Appeal, and we just love the picture with its towering image of mountains and clouds in such rich and dazzling colours. We feel closer to Watts having adopted this soaring masterpiece.
The Good Samaritan Adopted by Henry and Betty Jones On a visit prior to the successful
renovation of Watts Gallery, it became apparent that the rebuilding alone would not restore the Gallery's former splendour, and that if ever this could be achieved then substantial funding would be required for restoration of the paintings and works of art that had become damaged, neglected or were simply in need of some TLC. Before the formal re-opening, many of the paintings displayed were clearly distressed, most especially, in my mind’s eye, The Good Samaritan. And so it was that perhaps my underlying Christian belief kicked in, and I elected to adopt this wonderful painting of such telling depth and magnificence.
style, painting universal ideas. In Luke 10: 25-37 the parable describes how the Samaritan provided immediate and ongoing care. More poignantly Jesus commanded, ‘Go and do thou likewise.’ Watts returned to London from Italy in 1847 to find a changed England and artistic climate. He was greatly disturbed by poverty in London and Ireland, and he showed this in his paintings from this time, such as Found Drowned. Such paintings were starkly realist in nature and were not easily consumed by the public. The Good Samaritan was a turning point for Watts, in which he expressed his concerns about social issues through symbolism. Following this, Watts rejected realist paintings and continued to express himself in a symbolist
Watts exhibited The Good Samaritan at the Royal Academy in 1850 and stated in the exhibition catalogue that it was ‘painted as an expression of the artist’s admiration and respect for the noble philanthropy of Thomas Wright of Manchester.’ Wright worked to help former prisoners get back on their feet and ‘turn felons into citizens’, a mission that Watts was most interested in and one that the Artists’ Village continues to assist through its successful and inspirational Big Issues programme.
Black and White Chalk Study of a Cast of the Right Hand Adopted by Sir Mark Jones This drawing is one of a number of academic studies by Watts and may well have been used by Watts as a presentation drawing to gain
entry to the Royal Academy Schools in 1835. The drawing is quite unusual as it shows a downward angle, and the shadow is shown with a network of parallel lines. This drawing is a study of a plaster cast of a female hand, resting on a base. There is a real sensitivity to this work. It was through his drawing that Watts’s father recognised his son’s ability and sought a way to develop his talent. When Watts was 12 years old he entered the studio of sculptor William Behnes, where he experienced academic study pieces, such as this one, and also casts after antique sculptures. This drawing really represents Watts at an early stage and shows the talent of a young artist at the beginning of his career.
Black Chalk Study for ‘The Minotaur’ Adopted by Sir Mark Jones This drawing is so close to the painting that it is likely to be a copy of it, rather than a preparatory study. As the painting was so often
on loan, it is likely that this drawing was made so that Watts had his own version.
The drawing is after the legend recounted by Virgil, Ovid and Dante. The Minotaur was a hybrid man-animal, the child of an adulterous union between Queen Pasiphae, the wife of King Minos of Greece, and a bull. It was confined to the labyrinth on Crete, and every nine years was sent a sacrificial group of Athenian youths. This drawing shows the Minotaur looking longingly out to sea, awaiting this sacrifice. There is such longing here, and the glimpse of his eye desperately looking out to the horizon is quite transfixing. He is so entranced that he crushes a small bird in his hand: desperately sad and disturbing. As with many of Watts’s works, there is a social analogy here, and many believe that the Minotaur is Watts’s response to the issue of child prostitution.
Pencil Thumbnail Sketch of ‘Hope’ Adopted by Sir Mark Jones The composition of Hope began as a series of small sketches of a bent figure, swathed in drapery, pressing her ear to a lyre.They resulted
in two main oil versions.
There is a sadness to the pictures which belies the title, and it is true that Watts was at one of his lowest ebbs when he worked on this subject. His adopted daughter had recently lost her young baby, which is believed to be one of the reasons for his sadness. And yet the one string on the lyre presents the reason of the title: amidst all our sadness there must always be a strand of hope to keep us moving forward.
Surrey Woodland (also known as ‘End of the Day’) Adopted by Lady Laidlaw, in memory of Helen Violet Pritchard Whilst living in Compton, the surrounding countryside provided a great source of inspiration for Watts.The landscape shown in End of
the Day is characteristically Surrey and confirms Mary Watts's comments that it was ‘painted at Limnerslease from impressions gained from the surroundings.’ It is not a representation of an actual view of any particular area, but rather it is an imagined landscape based on Watts’s impressions of the countryside. This gives the painting an abstract feel. The colours are warm and atmospheric; there is richness to the picture which draws you into the beauty and comforting nature of the scene. It is really this intensity of colour and feeling that supports the title of the painting: a beautiful twilight that one could look at and soak in for much time. This reminds me too, that Watts painted this scene when he was in his twilight years. Watts wrote that ‘Art is not a presentation of Nature; it is a representation of sensation.’ This is shown very much in End of the Day.
The Irish Famine Adopted by Ann Laver When visiting Watts Gallery after it had
re-opened, I remember lingering in front of The Irish Famine. The painting portrays a mother and baby, barely alive, directing pleading looks towards her husband to provide food. This group stands for the tragedy in which a million people died due to policy failure and potato blight, and where the population fell by 20-25%. The dark background is not like a green lush Ireland summer but brings home the misery of the family. Early in 1847, scenes were reaching people through pamphlets, poems, images and newspaper reports. One pamphlet, Narrative of a Journey from Oxford to Skibbereen during the Year of the Irish
Famine, was published in 1847 after two wealthy students from Oxford, shocked by what they saw, published it to raise funds. One of the students was Lord Dufferin; his family seat at Clandeboye near Bangor, to which he succeeded in 1841, was far removed from the sight at Skibbereen. Much later, Watts painted Lord Dufferin for his Hall of Fame. Watts had been in Italy from the spring of 1843 until about April 1847 and had not yet been to Ireland when he painted The Irish Famine. The painting was originally known as The Eviction and was Watts’ vision of the famine in Ireland. One of Watts’s sources was poetry. The
Year of Sorrow (1849) had been written by his friend, Irish poet Aubrey Thomas de Vere.Vere had visited Watts in London during 1849-50 when Watts had a studio at 30 Charles Street, Berkeley Square. This painting was, for many years, not exhibited; it was finally shown 32 years later. It offers a background of social history, mystery and connections. The Irish Famine has mystery in that Watts painted it over another partly-finished painting meant for the wealthy Ionides family, visible on an X-ray. I am proud to have adopted such a painting.
Full-scale Gesso Model for ‘Physical Energy’ Adopted by John Lewis OBE
T
he colossal gesso grosso model of Physical Energy resides at Watts Gallery and is a stunning part of the collection. The way in which it is shown also truly enhances not only the piece itself, but the whole gallery. The open doors, as you walk outside the gallery to the entrance, reveal the dramatic sculpture and add a sense of excitement and anticipation to any visit. Watts’s own explanation of the sculpture was contradictory, encompassing action and existence, materialism and the cosmic. It was at once symbolic of man achieving yet more in the material world, yet also suggestive of man as part of creation. Watts himself described it as ‘man as he ought to be – part of creating, of cosmos in fact, his great limbs to be akin to the rocks and the roots, and his head to be of the sun.’ It is wonderful to be associated with this magnificent sculpture. It is such an inspirational part of the collection and so beautifully displayed.
May Prinsep Adopted by Lucy and Tim Lindholm Signor was always part of May Prinsep’s
life, and she of his. Born in India, the youngest daughter of Charles and Louisa Prinsep, and the family darling, May was still a toddler when she tragically returned ‘home’ in 1855. Her mother had just died after childbirth, and her father was paralysed by a stroke, so May was cared for in large part by her aunt and uncle, Sara and Thoby Prinsep, at Little Holland House. There May was exposed to the great and the good of the day, most notably Sara’s artist in residence G F Watts, who painted May a number of times. She also sat for Leighton, her pre-Raphaelite cousin Val and pioneering photographer (and May’s
aunt) Julia Margaret Cameron. After May married stockbroker Andrew Kinsman Hichens, the couple built a country house on the Hogs Back at Compton. The Monkshatch visitors book shows George and Mary Watts to be one of the Hichens’s first guests. Not long after that, Andrew bought the Wattses land nearby and on it built Limnerslease as ‘winter quarters’ and an escape from the city for his friends. The couples remained close until Watts’s death, and all are buried at the cloisters of Watts Cemetery. May was also central to our research into the circle of the Prinsep family. We’ve always loved this sweet, wistful portrait, which does not yet show the
sophistication of the woman whom the girl became, and had lain in wait for an opportunity to adopt it since at least 2007.
For He Had Great Possessions Adopted by Marina Logan-Bruce My first sight of this painting was in
the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral in late 2008. It was one of a number of Watts’s symbolist works forming the Parables in Print exhibition being mounted there during the renovation of Watts Gallery. I was not, at that time familiar, with Watts’s work and to be honest did not particularly like or understand some of these paintings. However, this one caught my imagination. Although not a large painting, it summed up for me everything that was going wrong with our society at that time. The financial crisis was in full swing, the greed of parts of the banking sector was being exposed and Watts’s rich young man epitomised to me many of the failings
of our society. The figure appears to be weighed down by his ‘possessions’ or wealth. He is almost buried by it, his head tilting away in sorrow as he realises he cannot or will not swap his materialist lifestyle for a spiritual one. As a non-believer my understanding of the work is probably superficial. I do not dwell on the precise meaning of the rest of the parable. Watts has captured my thoughts on the matter in this one painting, and it is quite shocking to realise that, nearly 115 years after it was painted, some things have not changed. I was surprised but delighted to discover quite recently that no one had yet adopted this work. I took it as a sign that he was
meant for me so I snapped him up.
Progress Adopted by Philip Martyn Watts felt time’s heavy hand for some
time and painted a number of over-sized paintings, including Progress, which were nothing less than life affirming. The ideas of creation, evolution and progress were of great fascination to Watts and permeate many of his works. This painting shows both progress and the antithesis of it. The white horse and rider, taken, I believe, from Watts’s admiration of young Persian horse riders, is the embodiment of progress, bathed in a beautiful warm and empowering glow. The horse and its rider are portrayed as true conquerors, cutting a swathe thorough the old, and surrounded by a burst of sunlight. There is a real power, glory and ferocity to this figure.
There is also a strong spiritual, divine and religious sense here. As so often in Watts’s work, this spirituality and warmth is juxtaposed by the dark, bowing figures below that represent materialism and backwardness. These figures can be seen as representations of vanity, lust, sloth and greed: all characteristics which hinder progress. I find this painting truly inspirational to look at. It reminds me of the glory and wonder of progress, and all those negative aspects of life that are overridden when one moves forward and really gets on with life.
Fiesole Adopted by Alan Midgley and Jan Chapman In 1968 Watts was so far from the public
consciousness that he couldn’t even be called unfashionable. The Tate Gallery no longer had a Watts Room but still displayed a selection of his works.
When Jan became a fan, she pursued him all over the capital – Postman’s Park, Kensington Gardens, Holland Park… but never to Compton. A move to Surrey in the mid-1970s brought Watts Gallery within reach. Dilapidated but romantic and charming – we never wanted it to change. But then the Hope Project showed what was possible, and we became Friends of the gallery. A passion for travel has taken us all over
the world but never, until 2011, to Fiesole. High above hot and crowded Florence wandering in the Roman ruins and then at a summer wedding in the cathedral, we were smitten. So when we realised that Watts’s early landscape was available to adopt, we had no choice! We are delighted to have become philanthropists in a small way and, in doing so, to help assure the future of the Watts Gallery - Artists’Village collection.
A Parasite Adopted by NADFAS Society in the East Surrey Area Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village has always been a favourite of NADFAS members in East Surrey, so they were delighted when the
opportunity arose in 2008 to Adopt a Watts for conservation while the Gallery was closed for its major refurbishment.
We wanted to be associated with a painting that encapsulated the inspiration Watts took from Surrey, and from those offered, A Parasite was chosen. The knowledge that Watts had viewed the tree from a window at Limnerslease and been captivated by the shining ivy leaves winding their way innocently upwards on the heavily textured bark very much attracted us. Far from appearing to smother the tree, the ivy has an unthreatening beauty, carefully climbing upwards, encircling the tree with no hint of the insidious outcome of its ascent, all against the backdrop of the lush Surrey landscape beyond. Perhaps the reference was to the changes that the new century might impose on the rural idyll of Compton. Looking back a century, we appreciate how the ivy’s message would appeal to Watts’s allegorical style, but fortunately an unspoilt Limnerslease still nestles in the Surrey Hills today.
John Stuart Mill Adopted by Robert Napier CBE John Stuart Mill was a giant of an intellectual and campaigner. His strongly argued views on liberty, freedom of speech, women’s rights
and much else were ahead of his times and hugely influential in changing political winds. As former head of WWF, I applaud his views on the environment when he said, ‘The conclusion of unlimited growth is destruction of the environment,’ and that was written 150 years ago! Indeed Watts considered Mill to be ‘one of our most profound thinkers’ and was keen for him to be included in his Hall of Fame. It is thought that this is the only portrait that Mr Mill, as Mary Watts described him, sat for. It was commissioned by Sir Charles Dilke on 17 March 1873 and was painted quickly, as Mill left for France by April and had died by May of the same year, making this likeness even more poignant. Although the first portrait from life went to Sir Charles, this version was painted by Watts as a copy for him to keep in his own collection, where it remains.
Miss Virginia Julian Dalrymple (also known as ‘Mrs Francis Champneys’) Adopted by NPU Consultants Virginia Dalrymple was the daughter of Sophia Dalrymple, who often sat for Watts.This was not a commission, and this is shown by the experimental nature of the portrait.
This portrait of Virginia is an extraordinary image showing Watts going beyond the accepted conventions of the portrait into a more imaginative and innovative realm. As a portrayal of a beautiful young woman, the painting brings a new focus on colour, fashion and setting. The intense green of the dress is quite arresting, as is the contrast with the beautiful little coral flowers and necklace. There is a focus on the style of the dress – its folds, tightness around the waist and gathering at the neck and arms. The colour and style is unusual for the times, and shows Virginia’s aesthetic style. It is a fashion statement.
Rachel Gurney Adopted by RichardOrmond CBE and Professor LeonĂŠe Ormond We admired the portrait of Rachel Gurney because she has an easy and independent air as well as being very beautiful. It is easy to
imagine her breaking the rules and going her own way, as was evidently the case. She is not one of your straight-laced Victorian ladies. Watts chose to portray her in a simple black dress, but this does nothing to diminish her warmth and her sensuality. Watts had known her since childhood, and you can sense his admiration for her qualities of beauty and personality. She seems to be engaged in a dialogue with him in this intimate characterization.
Large Chalk Study of the Figure of Messenger for the oil painting ‘The Messenger’ (also known as Study of a Draped, Standing Female Figure with an Infant) Adopted by Peter Palmer
I
was happy to adopt a sketch, albeit a very finished one, because it reflects the artist’s hand at its most immediate. This figure has a stunning, evocative richness – all the more so in the greater context of the human life cycle. The Messenger has also been called The Messenger of Death, Angel of Death or Message of Peace. One contemporary described the principal figure as an angel of rest; another, in verses inspired by the picture, as a consoler and nurse. What first struck me about her is the utter originality of Watts’s vision. Here, in contrast to the grim reaper of European tradition or the fantastic angels of Carlos Schwabe, stands a well-muscled woman
with chiselled features. Far from presenting a winged angel, Watts’s Messenger evokes a statuesque madonna in Greco-Roman dress. The face of the Messenger is similarly enigmatic. Severe, yet not merciless, this face surely reflects an admiration for Raphael’s Sistine Madonna. Watts’s Messenger is looking downward toward the recumbent mortal in extremis, but she also seems to be looking inward; a hallmark of Symbolist art. While essentially Romantic to my mind, Watts’s handling of the subject of death carries not a jot of morbidity or sentimentality. His composition is a miraculous blend of sweetness and rigour.
Why Watts Matters When it was fashionable to debunk artistic high-mindedness, critics dismissed Watts as just a wacky Victorian. But Arthur Symons, a leading Symbolist author, had previously put his finger on Watts’s genius: ‘In such pictures as Hope, as Love and Life and as Love and Death, as in such simpler single figures as Psyche and the Eves, it is the picture that makes the meaning, and not the meaning that makes the picture. [Watts] felt nobly and could paint greatly. He paints always with a sense of the glory of the world, of human glory, of the supreme glory of the spirit.’
Found Drowned Adopted by David Pike
M
y second choice was one of the most haunting and iconic paintings in the whole gallery which, when first seen, was in a sorry state and sorely in need of care and attention. The transformation to Found Drowned is now clear for all to see, a beautiful image of a sad end to the life of a young girl, all too common at the time it was painted and to which Watts was keen to draw the attention of a wider public. Literally a fallen woman, this painting is capable of causing a shudder, but is nevertheless very powerful. When I first saw this iconic and moving picture, not only did I feel that it was sorely in need of care and attention, but also that I would be happy to pay what it takes for conservation to bring out the hidden depths which must surely be there under all the dark of the background.
Lillie Langtry (also known as ‘The Dean's Daughter’) Adopted by David Pike
I
n my own collection I have always been drawn to figurative paintings and portraits and indeed was first attracted to the works of G F Watts by an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in 2004. Against a green background, the youthful Lillie Langtry in profile looks delightful.
Eve Tempted and Eve Repentant Adopted by David Pike
W
hen I first saw this striking pair, the images were sorely let down by very substandard framing. In my experience, the way pictures are presented can make a world of difference. This is not always recognised, and framing is costly. Hence the need for adoption, which I am pleased to say has transformed the outcome.
Green Summer Adopted by Keith and Sue Rawlings in celebration of John and Sheila Dobson's 50 years of marriage
I
n 1890, George and Mary Watts commissioned Ernest George to build them a house in Compton, Surrey. It became known as Limnerslease. Having settled there, George and Mary used the house as both a home and studio. Green Summer was painted by George towards the end of his life and depicts the view from their studio at the height of summer. Mary Watts commented in her catalogue: ‘Painted from the window of the studio at Limnerslease. The view studied is the first instance for the purpose of seeking out the variety to be found in the full green of summer. This picture occupied him at intervals for three years.’
Sue and I have had the good fortune of being close friends of John and Sheila Dobson for over fifty years (and were, in fact, bridesmaid and usher respectively at their wedding in Canterbury Cathedral). They lived almost all of their married lives in Compton and have grown to love dearly the people, the village life and the scenery. They have devoted endless hours and energy to Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village, and the Gallery has come to mean a very great deal to them. We had been looking forward greatly to celebrating John and Sheila’s Golden Anniversary at the Gallery in October 2012, but sadly illness prevented John from reaching this precious milestone. As a memorial to John and Sheila’s dedication,
not only to each other but to Compton and the Gallery, we could think of no better way of commemorating the warmth of our friendship with them than by adopting a picture of a view that they love and by an artist that they regard so highly. This is part of the reason we adopted this picture. We have lived in Compton for many years and enjoy the same beautiful scenes in Summer.
Love Triumphant Adopted by Mark and Deborah Rees
A
dopting the painting Love Triumphant began as an idea for a birthday present for my wife Deborah, although our initial interest in the work of G F Watts came about due to Deborah’s degree and subsequent post-graduate studies relating to the Pre-Raphaelites, a literary and artistic movement that she has always admired. The realisation that Watts Gallery - Artists’Village was only a short distance from our home in Horsham has enabled us to make several visits to enjoy his work and purchase a number of prints. We both agree that Love Triumphant is a special example of his work and deserves to be in the collection available to visitors to the gallery. Having been made aware of the Adopt a Watts scheme and discovering that the painting was available for adoption, I did not hesitate in arranging to fund the restoration and preservation of this glorious painting for the public, and my wife in particular, to enjoy.
Florence Nightingale Adopted by Jim and Patricia Rothman
E
veryone knows Florence Nightingale for her contribution to nursing, but we adopted her portrait because we admired the way she used and communicated statistics to improve public health. Florence Nightingale saved lives in the Crimea not just through nursing but by using statistics to show that many more soldiers died from disease than died from their wounds. Few people would have added the painstaking collection of statistics to the labour of nursing in such terrible conditions. Having done so, even fewer would have taken the trouble to develop ingenious and effective diagrams to persuade others of the truth of their findings. After her return, Florence Nightingale continued to use statistics in her battles to reform not just public sanitation and the profession of nursing, but also the War and India Offices. Never has a statistician been so popular, and few have done so much.
Thomas Hughes Adopted by Rugby School We were delighted to sponsor Thomas
Hughes as part of the Adopt a Watts scheme, as Thomas Hughes is one of the great Old Rugbeians. The Meteor, Rugby School’s magazine, describes the 1899 Speech Day as a ‘memorable one’, because on that occasion Old Rugbeians were honouring Thomas Hughes, who had died in 1896, aged 74, and who the Editor wrote ‘perhaps more than any other had been a worthy disciple of the great leader – Dr Arnold – at whose feet he sat.’ The Rev Dr James, the Head Master, began by welcoming the ‘brilliant and fashionable gathering’ which included Frederick Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the former Head Master
of Rugby, who was to unveil the statue. It was said that his contemporaries could not have chosen a better way of perpetuating Thomas Hughes’s memory than by the positioning of the statue facing the School Close where he learned to play cricket and football and ‘imbibed those qualities which go towards making a man notable and brave.’ Thomas Hughes is represented standing bareheaded with a pen in his right hand and a book carelessly in his left. The pose is dignified but easy. The face according to a report of the time ‘suggests the character of the man who, impatient of sham, yet schooled himself for charity’s sake to tolerate the intolerable, and who so combined the heart of a boy with the
wisdom of a man as to have earned for himself the title “the most distinguished schoolboy that ever lived”.’
Wax Maquette for oil painting ‘Love Steering Boat of Humanity’ Adopted by Sarah Selzer (former Surrey County Councillor in Guildford 2005-2009)
A
s Surrey County Councillors, we each had an allocation to support community projects either in our county division or the wider Guildford area. It was proposed I spend a small sum from my allocation on adopting this wonderful, sumptuous painting, which I was delighted to do. Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village is very much a jewel in the Surrey crown, and our whole committee of county councillors didn’t hesitate to agree to the funds. So I suppose this painting has been adopted by Guildford residents. It is a beautiful work, and has such a calming effect – a welcome treat in my busy life when I look at it!
What’s fascinating too, is the context of the picture: Watts was interested in current affairs and the social problems of his time, and he began illustrating this interest through social realism paintings. When he realised that public opinion found this a bit too much, he switched to a more symbolist form of painting. As Mary Watts sets out in her catalogue of Watts’s works: ‘This picture is the first expression of the painter’s thought upon this subject. The Nation’s suffering during the war in South Africa prompted its conception. Man’s condition of conflict in the midst of forces, from above and below, the recognition of his own impotence to control, yet with
the sustaining faith that the hand of Love directs his course.’ As with so much great art, the subject matter is very relevant to today and an inspiration.
Song of the Shirt Adopted by A Sempstress (anonymous) In 1850 the price paid to a seamstress for
sewing a shirt was between two and three pence, out of which they would have had to supply the needles, cotton and thread, leaving around one penny three farthings. On average it took five hours to make a shirt, so to earn four shillings a week it was necessary for them to work from at least 5am to 9pm every day, but that would mean spending up to two shillings and six pence on candles. Most seamstresses therefore had to find rent, food and clothing out of one shilling and six pence a week, whereas a shirt sold for one shilling.* It is little wonder that many of the women were forced to turn to prostitution as the only option other
than starvation. Watts understood the plight of these women and chose to paint the situation as it really was, rather than a more commercial, prettified version of the truth as other artists (Redgrave, Holl, Milais and Blunden, to name a few) had done or would go on to do. The result is so powerful, I defy anyone to stand in front of this painting and eat a biscuit without guilt. I adopted Song of the Shirt because I understand in a small way the depths of despair depicted. Although it has never solely put the food on my table as it did (or didn’t) for this seamstress, I have sewn all my life. There have been times when, in the early hours of the morning, I too have
hated the garment I was sewing but ‘had’ to keep on to finish it. I have remained anonymous in respect for all the un-named and largely unremembered seamstresses of the past. * Amounts culled from Mayhew’s research for ‘The London Labour and the London Poor’
A Sea Ghost Adopted by Shalford Decorative and Fine Arts Society A Sea Ghost was inspired by the weather conditions during G F Watts’s honeymoon voyage with his second wife, Mary, in 1887. In 1912 Mary wrote extensively about their honeymoon travels and described Watts’s artistic inception of the picture in detail:
‘At Messina our boat was told to tow a disabled sister ship of the same line (the Messageries), and all passengers were given the option of staying on board, to travel more slowly, or removing to another Messageries boat ready to start at once. We… preferred slowly coasting round Italy… A summer sea fog drifted about us one day, through which Corsica was suddenly revealed like opal and pearl, and
then lost again. The disabled ship loomed strangely through the fog, and the two pictures Off Corsica and The Sea Ghost were painted later from the impressions of that day.’ The painting demonstrates Watts’s interest in different atmospheric phenomena which he explored time and again in his work. As with many of Watts’s landscapes, the painting reflects his memory of scenes rather than reality; they dwell in the artist’s memory and take on a dreamy, thoughtful feel. The painting can be observed in many different ways: as a ship in mist or fog, or indeed, if you look closely, within a halo. It has often been likened to Whistler’s
monochrome landscapes and always reminds us of those paintings too.
The Slumber of the Ages Adopted by John and Kate Siebert I am not generally terribly keen on
symbolist paintings, so when considering which painting to adopt, I turned first to the more accessible portraits and images of social significance. But the more I looked around the gallery, the more I was drawn to The Slumber of the Ages. At first glance we see a woman with a child on her lap, but it is hardly a Madonna and Child, with the associations of maternal tenderness and enduring love. The two figures are monumentally classical, almost as if carved from stone. The woman’s arms rest near the child, but they are not protectively embracing, as she appears oblivious, lost in her slumber, head falling back away from the infant. She is
dressed in flowing, ageless garments and framed by what appears to be a blood red sun, setting against the backdrop of fiery mountains.
genre? Is the woman a symbol of the past, the Ages, history? Is the child a future that has to look forward without any of the assurance of the past?
In contrast, the babe is naked, almost aggressively so, as its pale body is in such contrast to the rich but sombre colours employed elsewhere. The child is half turned away from us, as if wishing to nestle in the breast of the woman. The eye is apprehensive, the little fists almost clenched so that the child seems to be taut with anxiety. It is an image both of vulnerability and stoicism.
The publication of Darwin’s works in the 1850s and the consequent loss of the old certainties seem to pervade this painting. It is not an image of certainty, but the painting seems to me to insist on life’s continuing possibilities.
So what are we to make of this – an image that seems to be deliberately subverting the certainties of the Madonna and Child
The more I see this painting, the more I admire it, not just because it is beautifully painted but because in its ambivalence it speaks of possibly irreconcilable complexities. I may never understand it, but it is a visual poem that haunts me.
Violet Lindsay Adopted by Julian Spencer-Smith and Derek Tanous
V
iolet Lindsay was a talented artist and society beauty who was portrayed by many distinguished artists. G F Watts knew the Lindsay family well and came to know Violet through her father, Charles Lindsay, and her great uncle, Sir Coutts Lindsay, the owner of the avant-garde Grosvenor Gallery. Watts painted four different portraits of her between 1879-81. Violet, later Marchioness of Granby and Duchess of Rutland (1856-1937), had developed an interest in art at an early age and was at the peak of her powers when Watts painted her. This unfinished painting by Watts became a study for another finished portrait, as Colonel Lindsay, overwhelmed by its beauty, begged
Watts not to carry it any further. I was drawn to the painting as I particularly like sketches and unfinished works that show the earlier stages of construction of the painting. In particular, I felt that this painting was one of the most fragile and in the most vulnerable state in the collection, and I was keen to use my experience as a painting conservator to personally restore it to a high standard. The canvas was dirty but never received the essential protective coat of varnish. Consequently the paint was not sufficiently strong in its binding and had started to deteriorate, which made the surface cleaning challenging as we had to ensure no paint would be removed in the process. Dirt had ingrained into the
crevices of the cracks on the face, and the paint on the face was seriously cupped (raised), which enhanced the impression of cracks. We successfully removed the dirt and relined the original canvas with the traditional composition glue method, which remedied the cupping of the paint and brought back the original smoothness of the face surface. The beautiful gold leaf Watts replica frame was produced by frame maker, Derek Tanous, also as part of the Adopt a Watts scheme.
Iris Adopted by Dr Nicholas Tromans and Dr Alison Smith When we decided we’d like to do our little bit to help Watts Gallery - Artists’Village by adopting a picture, the choice was,
to be honest, rather easy as we have a daughter named Iris. She was born in 2004, around the time it became clear that the life of the original Watts Gallery was coming to an end, and that an exciting but daunting new chapter in its history would have to begin. The picture itself seemed to suggest a new birth – a brilliant but uncertain idea taking form. It is wonderful to think it was painted by Watts at the very end of his long life.
Colour Chalk Study of Virginia Julian Dalrymple Adopted by Jane Turner
I
remember the day the beautiful little chalk drawing of Virginia Dalrymple arrived at the Gallery. The then curator, Richard Jefferies, brought it out to show me, and I immediately fell in love with it. I suggested he should have postcards made of the image as I was sure it would be a best seller, and sure enough, it flies off the shelf even today! Virginia was the daughter of Sophia Pattle, and was named after one of Sophia’s sisters,Virginia. Watts had fallen in love with Virginia and painted a beautiful full-length portrait of her which had been admired by Lord Eastnor, later Earl Somers, and as a result Lord Eastnor married her. The portrait of Virginia Pattle hangs in Eastnor
Castle. I love the freshness, simplicity and innocence of the little pastel of Virginia Dalrymple. I was also drawn to the romance of the whole story of the Pattle sisters — all seven of them — their origins in France where I had lived and worked for many years and then in India where I was born and brought up, a third generation Anglo-Indian on my mother’s side. By adopting this exquisite little portrait, I feel that, in a small way, I am part of the future of Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village and can share in the conservation of the collection so that generations ahead of us can learn to enjoy and appreciate the works of G F Watts.
After The Deluge Adopted by Dr and Mrs John Vardon We were drawn to After the
Deluge when we first saw it in a rather unflattering frame (and before it had been cleaned and reframed) because the apparent, superficial simplicity of the scene depicted is belied when one stops to consider the painting. Somehow, the painting provides a link between Turner on the one hand and the Impressionists on the other. Now cleaned and reframed, it is the best painting in Watts Gallery. The Adopt a Watts scheme provided a highly personal means of supporting Watts Gallery - Artists’Village, and we decided to adopt this work for the above reasons. The painting itself was conceived by Watts
to represent the sun bursting through the clouds that had hung over the earth for forty days after the great flood, described in Genesis. The sun is uncovering the waters over the Earth as they are beginning to recede. Mary remembered Watts himself explaining, ‘I have not tried to paint a portrait of the sun - such a thing is unpaintable - but I wanted to impress you with the idea of its enormous power.’ This work is certainly intended to show the divine in nature, and the dramatic sweep of colours is the painting of an idea, rather than a specific and very detailed landscape.
Paolo and Francesca Adopted by Lady Verey I first saw and fell in love with this
picture when it was lent to the Tate. And it was as a result of that, I discovered Watts Gallery and became a Trustee. The picture depicts the adulterous lovers from Dante’s Divine Comedy who have been killed by Francesca’s husband and condemned to the circle of hell where souls are blown by ‘the blast of hell that never rests from whirling.’ But as they lie in a never-ending embrace, the picture illustrates clearly the power of love and indeed of love’s ability to triumph over death. The lovers lie at peace, loving and trusting each other in death, whilst the storm rages around them.
picture glowing against the red walls still Watts first explored this subject in the 1840s sends shivers down my spine. I think that it is one of the most romantic images ever whilst he was in Italy. He went on to paint painted. four versions, of which this is the last and most complete. It is universally recognised to be one of his greatest achievements, and it was first exhibited in 1879 at the Grosvenor Gallery. The highly elaborate Renaissance frame, which is unlike any of the other frames in the Gallery, is the one in which the picture was originally shown. It was discovered beneath the stairs in the Curator’s house when the building was being cleared for restoration. Walking into the newly restored and refurbished Watts Gallery and seeing this
Sower of the Systems Adopted by Anthea Vernell I first visited Watt's Gallery - Artists’
Village with a group of friends about fifteen or twenty years ago, and I was very struck by the artwork. Our guide was extremely good and was able to explain the meanings behind many of the paintings. As a complete newcomer and ignoramus to the fact that art can, and does, have hidden messages, I found this very helpful. As we went round, I was very taken by the colour range, subjects and strength of the images. As with everything in life, some of the artwork I preferred to others that I found more difficult to absorb, both in the subject matter and content. When we went past The Sower of the
Systems I immediately fell in love with it and wanted to remove it from the wall and take it home with me. We had a very pleasant morning wandering round the collection and Chapel, and when we left, I bought a postcard. The painting haunted my dreams for years, then ages later I received a letter offering various paintings for adoption, among which was ‘my’ Sower of the Systems. Having checked and raided my building society account, I was able to adopt my dream haunter. I come and see it as often as I can - which is not as often as I'd like - but it still haunts my dreams, and I hope that I will be able
to keep it as my adoptee for a long time.
Portrait of Dr J Joachim (also known as ‘A Lamplight Study’) Adopted by Hazel Watson I feel I have a special relationship with
this picture. I have looked at it and reproductions of it long and hard, and I have thought about it and read about it, so that it feels very special to me. I would, if I could, like to have it for my own. As I cannot, I have done the next best thing: I have adopted it. At the beginning, I thought less of the actual painting and more of the subject: Joseph Joachim (1831-1907). For a time, I gave talks to small groups of local people about musicians and their lives. Whenever I came to consider Mendelssohn or Brahms or Schumann, I always met Joachim and realised what an important musician he was. In 1843, in Leipzig,
he met Mendelssohn who supervised his studies, and when Joachim was 13, Mendelssohn brought him to London where Joachim played, to great acclaim, the Beethoven Violin Concerto which is, for me and many others, a deeply loved work. It was written in 1806 but had been neglected for nearly 40 years, but Joachim played it many times, and his name became closely associated with it. He introduced Brahms to Robert and Clara Schumann, and in 1878 Brahms dedicated his violin concerto to him. When Brahms and Joachim had a rift in their friendship over Joachim’s divorce, Brahms eventually helped to heal their relationship by composing his fine double concerto for violin and cello, which
Joachim played. Three friends of Joachim’s – Brahms, Schumann and another, less well known composer, Albert Dietrich – wrote movements of a sonata called FAE after Joachim’s motto ‘Frei aber einsam’ (free but lonely). He had to guess who wrote which movement, which he did immediately, and the scherzo by Brahms is, for me, another much loved piece. The more I have learned about Joachim, the more the picture has come to mean to me. Watts was a music lover from childhood, and he refused to sell this portrait in which he captures the intensity of concentration of a great artist that he admired. It became one of his most highly regarded works, sent to many exhibitions including Paris in 1878.