G.F. Watts Fame & Beauty in Victorian Society

by Barbara Bryant

Accompanies a major exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from October 14, 2004 - January 9, 2005.

176 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

Reviews

[Giuliana Angotti · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is something just so kind about Watts as a colorist. The relationship between the tip of a pale finger to a dark background, the slip of a nose. Watts truly embodies the spirit of dark ground painting, his sitters coming up from their environment rather than away. Subtly, Watts combines the appreciation for his sitter’s humanity with an appreciation for the physicality of the canvas and, particularly in his later work, for the paint itself. In the burgeoning age of photography, surrounded by the rich milieu of Julia Margaret Cameron, the portrayal of the human face becomes something like a dream.