JOHN DAWSON WATSON (1832-1892)

Provenance

Henry Keene to 1980

Exhibition History

London, Christies, Charles Keene exhibition, January 1992

Description / Expertise

John Dawson Watson was a painter, watercolourist and illustrator. He studied at the Manchester School of Design and at the Royal Academy Schools. He exhibited at the Royal Academy 1853 to 1890, the British Institution, the Society of British Artists Suffolk Street, the Old Watercolour Society, the Grosvenor Gallery and elsewhere. Painted genre scenes, often of children. His pictures are usually small, painted on panel or board, and show a Pre-Raphaelite feeling for colour and detail. He was also a prolific and notable illustrator, producing many designs for books and periodicals. He worked for Once a Week, Good Words, London Society and others; among the many books he illustrated were Pilgrim's Progress, Arabian Nights, and Watt's Divine and Moral Songs. Works by him are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Norwich and Liverpool.

Charles Keene was an illustrator who spent many years working for Punch. By the 1840's he was producing book illustrations, and in 1851 he made his first drawing for Punch. He was connected with a group that included George du Maurier, Linley Sambourne and Sir John Tenniel. He was highly thought of - Whistler described him as the greatest English artist since Hogarth. He was awarded a Gold Medal at the Paris Exhibition of 1889 and he subsequently had a great influence on artists of the next generation.