Table of Content
The renowned developer converted the building into elite condos, after purchasing the property in 2011. Homer Watson in the new gallery addition to his home, Doon, 1906, photographer unknown, Homer Watson House & Gallery, Kitchener. Homer Watson, Nut Gatherers in the Forest, 1900, oil on canvas, 121.9 x 86.5 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.Randolph Hewton, Baie-Saint-Paul, c.1927, oil on canvas, 43.5 x 48.5 cm, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston. Homer Watson, A Coming Storm in the Adirondacks, 1879, oil on canvas, 85.7 x 118.3 cm, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Homer Watson, Down in the Laurentides, 1882, oil on canvas, 65.8 x 107 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
Watson moved to England in 1887 for three years (1887–1890), and further established his reputation. Over the next few years, his works became increasingly popular among collectors and received prizes at expositions across North America. In 1904, he won a bronze medal at the Canadian exhibition at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri.
BANKSY GIRL BLUE BIRD QUOTE LEARN TO REST CANVAS WALL STREET ART PRINT GRAFFITI
Clausen, whose art and personality Watson admired, was a highly regarded portrayer of rural life and landscapes (as in Winter Work, 1883–84). Image published in The Illustrated London News .In 1886 five Watson paintings were included in the massive Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London, which showcased a vast array of objects from across the British Empire. The exhibition included a Watson loaned by the Marquis of Lorne, River Torrent, early 1880s, and A Coming Storm in the Adirondacks, 1879, owned by the Montreal banker George Hague. Watson won a bronze medal in this display, which marked his first inclusion in an exhibition outside Canada. That recognition may well have precipitated his decision to travel to Britain in the summer of 1887. George Inness, An Adirondack Pastorale, 1869, oil on canvas, 66 x 91.4 cm, Albany Institute of History and Art.
“There can be no doubt whatsoever that the persons I have been talking with were the loved ones and others I have known and who have passed away. Afraid to let information about his spiritual beliefs get out to the public forum and potentially wreak havoc on his professional life, King kept these beliefs very private. William Lyon McKenzie King was the longest serving prime minister in Canadian history and was a professional academic who attained five degrees in his life—a man of high status and decree.
Life and career
A small village founded in the 1830s at the junction of Schneider's Creek and the Grand River, Doon's earliest documented population was 150 in the 1871 census. Watson descended from German Mennonite settlers who arrived in Ontario in the early 19th century. His father, a mill and factory owner, died in 1861 when Watson was six years old. Following Ransford's death, the family's only source of income was Susan's work as a seamstress. Ransford left behind a library of books that Watson studied from and influenced his early drawings. He sought the advice of Thomas Mower Martin in Toronto, and moved there in 1874.
Throughout his life Watson remained conscious of being a descendant of pioneers. He campaigned to save the Waterloo County woodlands that he had preserved in his landscapes. Due to the Stock Market Crash of 1929 in which he lost his savings, he was forced to hand over many works from his personal collection to the local savings & loans firm, which held them for security and then tried to sell the paintings itself. In 1882, while touring Canada, Oscar Wilde first noted the similarity between Watson and Constable, dubbing him the "Canadian Constable" due to the similarity between Watson's work and of the great English landscape painter. There may have been letters between the two men which could be in a private collection or lost.
Exhibitions
Without ever having seen Barbizon,” referring to the French artists who had worked in and around the village of that name. Constable and the Barbizon painters were highly popular with North American and European audiences, and Wilde’s comments gave Watson’s career another boost. The two men did not meet in person until Watson’s first sojourn in Britain a few years later. In the meantime, however, spurred by his admiration of Flitting Shadows, Wilde commissioned Watson to make paintings for himself and for two American acquaintances. Homer Ransford Watson (1855–1936) has been characterized as someone who, in the nineteenth century, first portrayed the surrounding landscape as specifically Canadian, rather than as a pastiche of European influences. His art documents the centrality of the pioneer legacy to Ontario’s sense of historical identity and crucially emphasizes the importance of environmentalist approaches to the landscape.
Clerestory windows allowed natural light to enter the gallery while providing ample wall space to hang his paintings. Today the Homer Watson House & Gallery aims to preserve and celebrate the legacy of Homer Watson’s creative spirit through appreciation, enjoyment and practice of the visual arts. Through exhibitions, events, programs and a museum space of the late artist’s studio, the Homer Watson House & Gallery has something for everyone. In Toronto held a hearteningly successful show and sale of Watson’s work, paintings from the previous approximately thirteen years that, until then, Watson had reserved in his private Doon gallery.
Pair of Olive Fell Western & Indian Artist Etchings Crow Boy & Crow Girl $35
The subject seemed an unlikely one for an artist dedicated to the local landscapes of the Grand River, with their familiar human history. But the mountains—in Near Twilight, B.C., c.1934, for example—proved highly attractive to Watson despite his general advice to artists to avoid stupendous scenery in which they would feel dominated and irrelevant. Presidency at the beginning of April 1918 had been a flattering testament to his stature as a senior artist who managed to stay on good terms with almost everyone. It was also an acknowledgement of his unwavering commitment to the academy; he contributed to all but two of its fifty-seven annual exhibitions from 1880 until the year of his death.
Many people were quietly ushered into the dimly lit vestibule of the fabled artist’s home.
Homer Watson, A Hillside Gorge, 1889, oil on canvas, 45.5 x 61 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. The painting was not only accepted for exhibition but given a good position in the dense floor-to-ceiling hanging. Homer Watson, Landscape, Scotland, 1888, oil on canvas, 86.5 x 122.3 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.George Clausen, Winter Work, 1883–84, oil on canvas, 77.5 x 92.1 cm, Tate, London.
Homer Watson, On the River at Doon, 1885, oil on canvas, 61 x 91.6 cm, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. In early 1882, the twenty-seven-year-old Wilde undertook what developed into a year-long lecture tour of the United States and Canada. He addressed audiences on the subjects of Aestheticism and the importance of beauty in daily life. Wilde had yet to establish a reputation as an author, and his mannerisms and exotic clothing provoked ridicule, but the tour was a commercial success.
This portrait was perhaps made during one of Watson’s visits to the Cassadaga Lake Free Association, Lily Dale, New York.At the same time as his savings were almost entirely wiped out, Watson experienced a substantial decline in demand for his paintings. The Depression lingered well into the 1930s, severely hindering the purchasing power of many of Watson’s previous customers. Plus, most of his wealthiest patrons had died before the Depression even occurred.
Homer Watson, The Last of the Drouth , 1881, oil on canvas, 92.1 x 138.5 cm, Royal Collection Trust, Windsor Castle, Berkshire. Homer Watson, On the Mohawk River, 1878, oil on canvas, 64.8 x 86.4 cm, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Two stamps of denominations 50 and 85 cents were issued depicting two of his works, Dawn in the Laurentides and The Flood Gates. An arterial road in Kitchener, which connects the Doon area to the main parts of the city, is named Homer Watson Boulevard.
This development was the beginning of village life at the conjunction of Schneider's Creek and the Grand River. Health problems were compounded by financial disaster when the collapse of the stock market in October 1929 devastated the stocks and bonds in which Watson had invested his considerable earnings. He eventually saw no option but to transfer title of his current and future paintings to the Waterloo Trust and Savings Company as collateral for a monthly allowance.
Using illustrations in the books of his father's library as teaching examples he learned how to describe the world around him in sketches and in finished oils. In 1981, the City of Kitchener purchased the historic house from Ruthe Cayley to ensure its long-term survival. The Homer Watson house continues to this day as a place for the enjoyment and practice of the arts, showcasing historic and contemporary exhibitions and artistic programming for all ages.
No comments:
Post a Comment