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Picture of the Month

February 2010:

G. F. Watts,
Portrait of the Painter at the Age of Seventeen,
1834

The 23rd February marks the date that George Frederic Watts was born in 1817. He shared his birthday with the famous composer, Handel (1685 – 1759) whom Watts’s father, a piano- tuner admired. This painting depicts not only how the artist looked at the age of seventeen but how he wished to be viewed. Although still young and impressionable, Watts had already experienced many hardships during his short life. His father’s first wife had borne him a son (16 years G. F. Watt’s senior) and two daughters but she had died in 1815. His second wife, Harriet, bore him four children, including George Frederic. All four children were plagued by a bout of measles from which three died and from which G. F. Watts remained physically weak for the rest of his life. Watts was a lonely child growing up on Queen Street in London, as his mother was often ill, his father busy with work and he shared little in common with his older half- sisters. At the age of nine, George Frederic lost his mother to consumption and the young Watts was left with two half- sisters and his father, who by this stage had undergone a great deal of misfortune and was cynical about work and life.

Unable to attend school or play boisterous games outside due to his illnesses, the young Watts spent a lot of time alone, reading (the Iliad or Sir Walter Scott’s poetry preferably) and drawing. He was inspired by the antique, especially the Elgin Marbles and he enjoyed illustrating scenes and characters from the books he read as well as the domestic scenes he saw around him. At the age of ten, Watts was sent to work as an aide to William Behnes (1794- 1864), a sculptor and friend of his father’s. Here he learnt invaluable drawing techniques and a great deal more from William’s crippled brother, Charles, who was well-read in Shakespeare, Virgil and Ossian, which further opened young Watts’s reasonably uneducated mind. Many of Watts’s early sketches have survived, such as Portrait of an Unknown Man (1835, COMWG2007.247) and Heads and Busts of Women and Children (1831, COMWG2007.274) both executed when Watts was in his teens.

At Behnes suggestion Watts’s father took his son and his portfolio to see Sir Martin Archer Shee, President of the Royal Academy, who bluntly brushed the artist aside. However by the age of sixteen Watts was selling his portrait drawings, was making money and had become confident, self-assured and determined to become a painter.

Portrait of the Painter at the Age of Seventeen was completed at this point in the young man’s life. The neutral tones of the background and clothing of the sitter forces the viewer to make eye contact with the focal point of the painting, Watts’s piercing eyes. A simple outline drawing illustrates his loose, open and oversized clothing which fades to a blur suggesting that Watts is at ease with himself. His hair flows loosely about his shoulders and slim face, yet his pursed lips and large, bright eyes give a dogged impression. The sketchy quality of this painting is made even more apparent at the lower left- hand side where Watts has included a small study of a seated man looking out from the canvas.
This painting evokes Watts as a Romantic genius, a bohemian comparable to portraits of Shelley (1819, NPG) and Sir Joshua Reynolds (c. 1747- 8, NPG). A year after this work was completed, at the age of eighteen, Watts entered the Royal Academy Schools in order to study drawing from the antique, was soon exhibiting work in London and had essentially launched his artistic career.

Catherine Hilary, Curatorial Fellow at Watts Gallery

Portrait of the Artist at the Age of Seventeen can be viewed at the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate until 21st March 2010.