Bust of G.F. Watts, OM: M.13-2015

Titles

Bust of G.F. Watts, OM

Maker(s)

Sculptor: Gilbert, Alfred

Entities

• Bust

Categories

• Sculpture

Description

Bronze bust of G.F. Watts, OM (1817-1904), painter and sculptor. Bronze reduction, on a wooden base.

Legal notes

Sir Ivor and Lady Batchelor Bequest through The Art Fund

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (2015-04-27) by Batchelor, Ivor, Sir and Lady

Dating

19th Century-20th Century
Production date: after AD 1889 : Model: 1888; present bronze cast after 1889

Note

G.M. Watts was a famous Victorian painter and sculptor. His wife commissioned a bust of him from Gilbert in 1888. Begun in Watts' studio in August 1888, it took Gilbert 18 sittings to complete the model. The original bronze was cast in winter 1889 and later, in 1904, Mrs Watts presented it to the Tate, London (N01949). The original plaster model is now in the Royal Academy of Arts (no. 2153). Gilbert refused payment for the bust, and later Watts painted a portrait of Gilbert (whereabouts unknown) as a gift in return in 1895. Gilbert made a reduced-scale model of his bust of Watts and had it cast as an edition bronze. The present bust is one of these reductions.

Sir Alfred Gilbert RA MVO (1854-1934) was an English sculptor. He studied in London, Paris and Rome, returning to England in 1884. Gilbert was the leading artist in the New Sculpture movement, which revitalised sculpture in late nineteenth-century Britain. He was also a vital force in reintroducing the lost-wax technique for casting works of art in bronze in England (sand-casting had been the norm for bronze sculpture since the 18th century, with lost-wax casting used only for small-scale work and jewellery). His commissions included the jubilee memorial to Queen Victoria in Winchester and the statue of Eros, in aluminium, for the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain in Piccadilly Circus, and in 1900 he was appointed Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy. A period of bankruptcy and divorce followed, and Gilbert moved to Bruges. On his return to England in 1926, his fortunes improved, the highlight being the bronze Queen Alexandra Memorial, at Marlborough House, London, 1926-32. He was knighted by George V in 1932. Gilbert died in poverty in 1934.

School or Style

English