G.F. Watts: The Hall of Fame
Portraits of his Famous Contemporaries
Leonée and Richard Ormond.
Between 1847 and 1901, G.F.Watts created a magnificient portrait gallery of his contemporaries for presentation to the nation. By the end of his life Watts gave more than 40 portraits to the National Portrait Gallery, a unique record of the people he most admired, of whom many were his friends.
The great poets and artists of the day sat to Watts: Tennyson, Browning, Leighton and Rossetti, together with thinkers and philanthropists, among them J.S.Mill and Thomas Carlyle, and a scattering of statesmen.
Watts claimed that he wished to paint the mind and soul of his sitters as well as their outward appearance. Avoiding fashionable dress and accessories, he depicted them as men of destiny, profound thinkers and creative geniuses, in a timeless style quite unlike that of any other artist of that period.
'G.F.Watts: The Hall of Fame Portraits of His Famous Contemporaries' is at Watts Gallery from 7 February to 3 June 2012.
Follow the link below to view sample pages from this catalogue:
http://www.wattsgallery.org.uk/exhibition/gallery-exhibition/2011/09/08/gf-watts-hall-fame
