Celebration of Portraiture | Watts Gallery and Artists' Village

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Celebration of Portraiture

'I paint myself constantly, that is to say whenever I want to make an experiment in method or colour, and I am not in the humour to make a design'.
- George Frederic Watts

Articles

Two side-by-side paintings of a young woman looking at different angles

The Curious Case of G F Watts's Double Portraits

Dr Stacey Clapperton introduces us to George Frederic Watts's double portraits.

A woman in a vivid green dress reclines on the base of a tree

Curatorial team in conversation: Virginia Dalrymple's Dress

Stacey Clapperton and Emma Coburn discuss one of the more unusual objects in the historic collection at Watts Gallery - Artists' Village: Virginia Dalrymple's emerald green dress.

A half finished bust portrait of Florence Nightingale

A portrait of Florence Nightingale

Dr Stacey Clapperton discusses the unfinished work of Florence Nightingale.

Lady Dalrymple portrait, before retouching and after

Before and after conservation: Lady Dalrymple

Our De Laszlo Paintings Conservator, Sally Marriott, talks us through the conservation of Lady Dalrymple by George Frederic Watts.

Painting of G F Watts, he has wavy hair and looks directly at the viewer

Curatorial team in conversation: George Frederic Watts, Self-Portrait Aged 24

The Curatorial team discuss the history behind George Frederic Wattses self-portrait.

An oil painting of a young woman with purple hair sat on a chair next to a table, on it a laptop is balanced on top of several books, and a MacDonalds happy meal box sits next to it.

Sarah Thien, Portrait of a Young Girl

Sarah Thien explains the process behind her residency project: Portrait of a Young Person.

Two visitors look at art in Historic Galleries

British Portraits Then and Now

Curator Dr Emily Burns explores the impact of Watts’s celebrated Hall of Fame in conversation with Simon Frederick’s Black is the New Black.

Photo of Naomi Campbell

A spotlight on three portraits from Faces of Fame

Art historian, writer and founder of @ablackhistoryofart Alayo Akinkugbe selects her three favourite portraits from the display Faces of Fame: G F Watts X Simon Frederick.

George Frederic Watts's self portraits

Dr Stacey Clapperton discusses the self-portraits that G F Watts painted throughout his career.

Portrait of a women with her head to the side in a dark long-sleeved dress

A portrait of Rachel Gurney

Our Membership Manager, Rachael Gurney-O'Neill introduces us to a portrait of her namesake, Rachel Gurney, by George Frederic Watts.

Oil painting of a figure surrounded by flame turned away

Object in Focus: Satan

Our Collection Online Early Career Research Fellow (Mythological Subjects), Dr Melissa L. Gustin, focuses on Satan (1847) by George Frederic Watts in this blog.

Videos

Picture Talk: G F Watts, Study for Clytie

Picture Talk: G F Watts, The Ionides Family

Faces of Fame by The National Portrait Gallery

Picture Talk: G F Watts, Found Drowned

Our Collection

A watercolour image of women with her hair tied back

Mary Watts, Self Portrait, 1882

Sketch of a bearded man

From the archive: George Frederick Watts's sketchbooks

Pen drawings of a man in a plumed helmet

George Frederic Watts, Boccaccio, 1844-47

Statue of Alfred Tennyson and his dog

Monument to Lord Tennyson

A red pencil sketch of a woman looking up

Drawings and watercolours

Object in Focus: Ophelia

Sculpture of a women turning her head to one side

Object in Focus: Clytie

Carved severed head of Medusa from above

Object in Focus: Medusa

Painting of a young woman in a white blouse looking to the left

Object in Focus: Miss May Prinsep

Evelyn De Morgan

A photo portrait of Evelyn De Morgan. Her hair is up and she wears a black dress.

Evelyn De Morgan

Painting featuring three daughters amongst clouds and rainbows

Daughters of the Mist by Evelyn De Morgan

A woman in a blue translucent robe floats in a star over the ocean

Evelyn De Morgan's Figures in Flight

Learn

Art and Action

Kids activity pack

George and Mary Paper Puppets

Cutting and colouring activity

Artists' Village colouring in

Colouring activity

Shop

Book cover has a portrait of a boy by G F Watts, the text reads "The Drawings of G F Watts"

The Drawings of G F Watts

Exhibition catalogue cover, text reads "Henry Scott Tuke"

Henry Scott Tuke