Portrait of Monica Boyd, three-quarter-length, seated in a black dress and red-feathered hat

Details

George Spencer Watson, R.A. (1869-1934)
Portrait of Monica Boyd, three-quarter-length, seated in a black dress and red-feathered hat
signed and dated 'G.SPENCER WATSON 09' (lower left), and inscribed 'MONICA BOYD' on the reverse
oil on canvas
52½ x 40¼ in. (133.4 x 102.2 cm.)

Provenance

with Emil Richter, according to an old label on the reverse.
with Jane Roberts and Max Rutherston, 1991.

Exhibited

London, Royal Academy, 1909, no. 733.
Liverpool, Liverpool Academy, 1909, no. 827.
Paris Salon, 1911.
Dresden, Kunstsalon E. Richter, 1912.
London, Fine Art Society, George Spencer Watson, 1934, no. 34.
Dorset County Museum and Southampton Art Gallery, George Spencer Watson, 1981-2, no. 2.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

Little seen in the auction rooms in recent years, George Spencer Watson's Edwardian society portraits recall Sargent in their brilliant, confident brushwork. Spencer Watson won the silver medal for drawing and the Landseer scholarship at the RA Schools, and exhibited 132 works at the Royal Academy throughout his career. Although he preferred to paint subject pictures, his evident facility as a portraitist led to a steady stream of commissions. Until the First World War, he also exhibited at the Paris Salon. The present picture was shown there in 1911.

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