Self Portrait
Artist
George Frederick Watts
(London, England, 1817 - 1904)
Date1882
Mediumoil on canvas
ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings
DimensionsOverall: Height: 34.5 cm, Width: 29.7 cm
Frame: Height: 113.5 cm, Width: 67.3 cm
Frame: Height: 113.5 cm, Width: 67.3 cm
AcquisitionAlexander Macdonald Bequest, 1901.
CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0
LocationOn Display - Gallery 01
Object numberABDAG003581
About MeGeorge Frederic Watts was a leading Victorian painter, famed mainly for his symbolic subjects and portraits. He was born in London, and trained in the studio of the sculptor William Behnes. His fine and penetrating portraits, which were increasingly in demand later on in his career, are considered today to be among his best achievements. Some of them were not commissioned but were painted as private projects. They clearly show a move away from the professional portrait painting of the day, which was a celebration of the Victorian upper classes. Instead they concentrate on the 'intellectual' quality and 'mental view' of the sitter.
Watts also painted a self portrait for the Uffizi collection in Florence, an important commission as several famous painters of the 19th century were asked to make a self-portrait for that collection. The Uffizi's painting shows a social representation of the artist, working on a canvas with a palette in his hand. The difference between our painting and the Uffizi's one is striking. The severe and austere profile of the painter in the Uffizi collection is absent in the thoughtful expression of the old man in the Aberdeen painting, which is probably the most intimate self portrait that he painted. There is no self-celebration or idealisation and the artist does not try to appear younger than he was at that time but he is depicted with a tired and shadowy expression.
More About Me
Watts, who was also a sculptor, got his first names from the composer Handel on whose birthday he was born.
Exhibitions
