Watts Gallery
Watts Gallery news
Dates for your diary:
Explore Cicely Mary Barker's enchanting world through original artwork and personal sketches in Flower FairiesThe Magical World of Cicely Mary Barker. Learn about Barker's life, see some of the beloved Flower Fairies illustrations and enjoy interactive activities along the way. Alongside the exhibition, embark on an adventure across the Watts Gallery grounds with a Tree Fairy Trail inspired by Barker’s botanical illustrations and traditional folklore.
Jonathan Chiswell Jones: 50 Years a Potter enters its final weeks in the Watts Contemporary Gallery. Browse stunning lustreware by one of the world’s leading makers before the exhibition closes on Sunday 24 November. On Thursday 28 November, the annual printmaking exhibition In Print returns. The prints in this year’s show celebrate the natural world in many different forms.
Award-winning photographer and former artist in residence, Emma Brown, will be holding tintype portrait sessions in the Artist in Residence Studio from Friday 8 until Sunday 10 November. Discover the chemistry behind how the photos are developed while getting your special, unique portrait taken.
To celebrate Mary Watts’s 175th birthday anniversary, Watts Gallery is delighted to present Mary Watts: A Legacy Reimagined, an exhibition featuring the work of five artists that have previously worked at Watts Gallery as artists in residence and exhibitors. This exhibition demonstrates the artistic responses that emerged during each artist’s time at Watts Gallery, drawing on Mary’s enduring legacy of community-building, collaboration and creative empowerment.
Enjoy creative time as a family with weekly Clay Club sessions on Sundays. Sessions this month explore magical moments, making a coil pot, and Christmas!
DON’T FORGET, COMPTON RESIDENTS GET 50% OFF ADMISSION! VALID WITH A PROOF OF ADDRESS.
Check the website for details of events and to book tickets: www.wattsgallery.org.uk
Nestled in the beautiful Surrey Hills, Watts Gallery first opened its doors to the public in 1904. It is unique in the UK being the only purpose-built art gallery created for the display of works by a single artist, the great Victorian artist G.F. Watts (1817-1904). Over one hundred paintings and sculptures are on permanent display; spanning a period of 70 years, they include portraits, landscapes and major symbolic works.
Perched on a hillside, overlooking the Gallery sits Limnerslease, the Autumn and Winter home and studio of G.F. and Mary Watts, originally built in the Arts & Crafts style. Limnerslease recently underwent a major restoration project. Don’t miss the chance to join a guided tour and glimpse the start of this nationally important project.
G.F. Watts - Fiesole, Italy
To this day, the legacy of G.F. and Mary Watts lives on, with artists working onsite and a contemporary gallery selling artwork by local and national artists. Watts Gallery also runs an extensive events programme for families, adults and young people, offering the opportunity to improve your art skills, attend a lecture, or meet one of the artists in residence.
George Frederic Watts 1817 - 1904
The English symbolist painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts lived in Compton during the latter years of his life.
De Morgan Gallery in Watts Gallery
George Frederic Watts occupies a unique place in the history of British painting. Famous in his day as a painter and sculptor, he gained the nickname of ‘England’s Michelangelo’. His aim was to re-invent British history painting in a grand manner, making images that were both uplifting and thought provoking. He believed art should also be accessible to everyone, not just the rich, so he gave many of his pictures to public galleries, helping to found the Tate Gallery in 1897.
G.F. Watts - Mary Watts
Watts was a serious individual, so it may therefore come as no surprise that his marriage to the teenage actress Ellen Terry, was short lived. In later life, he married Mary Fraser-Tytler (1886) who was 36 years his junior. Mary devoted the rest of her life to her husband, both during his life and after his death.
In 1891 Watts made Limnerslease his winter retreat and it remained so until his death in 1904. Mary Watts, the inspiration behind the move to Compton and the Chapel, continued to live there until she died in 1938.
Shortly before his death in 1904, G.F. Watts saw the opening of the first and main portion of 'Watts Picture Gallery'.
Cicely Robinson is Curator.
G.F. Watts - Lion & Tiger Fighting. 1830. Aged 13
Green Summer
Sunset on the Alps