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Lot Essay
This is a study for the half-length version of Ariadne that Watts exhibited at the Dudley Gallery in 1869. The Times outlined the composition, 'a sleeping Ariadne, head and bust only', whilst the Art Journal offered characteristically conditional praise: 'To say that the "Ariadne" is worthy of Titian would be to go too far; still no one can fail to recognised in the work a certain Titianesque colour, largeness of manner, and bold mastery of pencil.' The Illustrated London News admired the portrayal of 'deathlike repose, the perfect laxity of the fingers delicately expressive of the intended pathos.'
Watts was to tackle the subject again; the most ambitious version Ariadne in Naxos (1875, Guildhall Art Gallery) shows the abandoned heroine full-length, fully attired, attended by an anxious maid and somnolent leopards. The present picture is more abstract in concept; the myth alluded to by the brief white sail which announces the arrival of Dionysus. The archetypal hedonist soothes Ariadne, who mourns her desertion by Theseus. The monochromatic palette is typical of Watts's studies; he used such to apportion mass and then added detail. This evolutionary yet intense process seems right for an artist whose work is free from fripperies and who maintains an essentially unique aesthetic vision, despite his association with the Holland Park Circle. William Rothenstein's retrospective comment is pertinent: '...the epic spirit [came] naturally [to Watts], and the mention of his name evokes a luminous world of his own creation'.
We are grateful to Richard Jefferies and Hilary Underwood for their help in preparing this catalogue entry.
Watts was to tackle the subject again; the most ambitious version Ariadne in Naxos (1875, Guildhall Art Gallery) shows the abandoned heroine full-length, fully attired, attended by an anxious maid and somnolent leopards. The present picture is more abstract in concept; the myth alluded to by the brief white sail which announces the arrival of Dionysus. The archetypal hedonist soothes Ariadne, who mourns her desertion by Theseus. The monochromatic palette is typical of Watts's studies; he used such to apportion mass and then added detail. This evolutionary yet intense process seems right for an artist whose work is free from fripperies and who maintains an essentially unique aesthetic vision, despite his association with the Holland Park Circle. William Rothenstein's retrospective comment is pertinent: '...the epic spirit [came] naturally [to Watts], and the mention of his name evokes a luminous world of his own creation'.
We are grateful to Richard Jefferies and Hilary Underwood for their help in preparing this catalogue entry.