Malcolm Bell

“ Watts's lesson on the theme of death. Stretched on a bier and reverently sheeted lies a corpse; strewn neglected on the ground lie the ermine robe of worldly rank, the weapons of the warrior, the lute of the musician, the book of human learning, the palmer's robe of late repentance and the roses of fleeting pleasures ”

“ Believing devoutly in the high mission of didactic art, he strove ever to carry out his part of it faithfully. To quote his own words: “My intention has not been so much to paint pictures that 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”; and his tenet is that the main object of the painter should be “demanding noble aspirations, condemning in the most trenchant manner prevalent vices, and warning in deep tones against lapses from morals and duties.” ”

“ He expresses his ideas for the most part in terms of beauty, an idealized, classical beauty of form, a glowing, Venetian beauty of colour, though his conviction of the deadly danger of heaped-up riches, which he vindicated in his life as well as in his work, has, in such cases as “The Minotaur” (exhibited in 1896) “Mammon” (1885) and “Jonah” (1895) , where the unveiled vileness of Cruelty and Greed is fearlessly depicted, driven him to the presentment of sheer ugliness or brutality. Far oftener a vast, all-embracing tenderness inspires his work; it is the sorrow, not the sin, that stirs him. ”

“ In the first, “Love and Life,” exhibited in 1885, a replica of an earlier picture in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and of another version presented by him to the Luxembourg, Paris, Love, a figure in the prime of manhood, leads and supports the slender, clinging girl who symbolizes Life up to the craggy mountain-top, while he partly shields her from the blast under a broad wing. Of this he himself said, “Probably ‘Love and Life’ best portrays my message to the age. Life, represented by the female figure, never could have reached such heights unless protected and guided by Love” ”

“ The grandeur and dignity of his style, the ease and purposefulness of his brushwork, the richness and harmoniousness of his colouring—qualities partly his own, partly derived from his study of Italian masters at an early and impressionable age—are acknowledged even by those to whom his elevated educational intentions are a matter of indifference, if not of absolute disapprobation; while many, to whom his exceptional artistic attainment is a sealed book, have gathered courage or consolation from the grave moral purpose and deep human sympathy of his teaching. ”

“ The world is exceptionally well provided with opportunities of judging of the qualities of G. F. Watts's art, for with a noble generosity he presented to his country a representative selection of the best work of his long life. ”

“ In 1742 a Workman named Thomas Bolsover was mending the handle of a knife made of silver and copper, when, accidentally overheating it, he caused the metals to fuse and flow, and found that as a consequence the silver adhered to the copper as a thin coating. Being an intelligent man, he perceived the commercial value of his chance discovery, and began the manufacture of articles which, with all the appearance of silver, were both cheaper and stronger than those made of the pure metal. ”

“ Founded admittedly on the Grecian monuments, there is a sculpturesque rather than pictorial quality in most of his compositions, a regulated disposition which, though imparting often a certain air of unreality and detachment, inspires them nevertheless with that noble impressiveness which forms their most conspicuous characteristic. It is natural, therefore, that in sculpture itself he should also take a high place. ”

“ Of recent years old Sheffield plate after long neglect has come into fashion again, and genuine articles in good condition have greatly gone up in value, often exceeding in cost those of more modern date in sterling silver. Concurrently fraudulent imitation has regrettably increased. In some cases the whole object is a modern reproduction in electro-plate, but more often really old articles from which the original plating has been worn off in course of time have been replated, both equally being in the eyes of the connoisseur unworthy of serious attention and comparatively valueless. ”

“ Watts is before all things a painter with a grave and earnest purpose, painting because that form of expression was easier to him than writing, though he has published some few articles and pamphlets, chiefly on art matters ”

“ There are not wanting critics who radically dissent from this view of the proper functions of art. It must be admitted that there is force in their objection when the inner meaning of a picture is found to be exceedingly obscure, if not incomprehensible, without a verbal explanation. ”

“ To say what he has to say as clearly and briefly as may be is his aim, and when he has achieved the effect he desires, the method of his doing so is of no further moment. In the use of paint as paint, in the intrinsic beauties of surface and handling, he would seem in his later years to take no delight. ”

“ There can be few, nevertheless, who will maintain that his aim is not a lofty one; and the strongest evidence of the artist's greatness, to those who accept his doctrine, is the fact that he has not only striven untiringly for his own ideals, but has very often gloriously attained them. ”

“ At first only one surface of the copper was plated with silver and thus its usefulness was necessarily restricted, but it was a simple matter to apply the silver to both sides and thenceforward whatever was made in solid metal could be reproduced in plate, and firm after firm went into the business, ever and anon introducing further improvements. ”

“ He has drawn inspiration largely from both the Old and New Testaments, more rarely from the poets and classical myths; still more rarely he has treated subjects of modern life, though even in these he has not abandoned his moral purpose, but has sought out such incidents, whether fictitious or historical, as will serve him in conveying some lesson or monition. ”

“ Watts's technique is as individual as his point of view. It is chiefly remarkable for its straightforwardness and simplicity, and its lack of any straining after purely technical effects. The idea to be expressed is of far higher importance to him than the manner of expressing it. ”

“ WATTS, GEORGE FREDERICK (1817–1904) , English painter and sculptor, was born in London on the 23rd of February 1817. While hardly more than a boy he was permitted to enter the schools of the Royal Academy; but his attendance was short-lived, and his further art education was confined to personal experiment and endeavour, guided and corrected by a constant appeal to the standard of ancient Greek sculpture. ”

“ Though working unceasingly. Watts never hurried the completion of any canvas. Of two slightly differing versions of “Fata Morgana,” both begun in 1847, the first was not finished before 1870, the second not until ten years later. Even after finishing a picture sufficiently for exhibition, he often subsequently worked further upon it. The portrait of Lord Leighton, exhibited in 1881, was repainted in 1888; the version of “Love and Death,” exhibited in 1877, and 1883, and all the pictures presented to the Tate Gallery in 1897, were more or less retouched when hung there. ”

“ For him he painted a portrait of Lady Holland, exhibited in 1848, and in his Villa Careggi, near the city, a fresco, after making some experimental studies in that medium, fragments of which are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. To Lord Holland’s encouragement, also, it was chiefly due that in 1846 the artist took part in another competition, the third organized by the Royal Commissioners, who on this occasion announced a further list of prizes for works in oil. ”

“ This was passed again and again between gradually approximated rollers, with occasional annealing, until the desired thickness had been attained. The great extension of surface thus produced had the drawback of exaggerating any small defect in the union of the two metals, increasing it to a blister of an inch or more in diameter. ”