G.F. Watts (1817–1904) had a career spanning more than 70 years, and his work has inspired many household names including Rossetti, Picasso, Lucian Freud, and… Barack Obama. Celebrating 200 years since his birth, ‘England’s Michelangelo’ explores Watts as a painter, social activist and philanthropist. Explore the major themes of Watts’s art: colour, cosmos and celebrity – and view some of the artist’s most striking masterpieces. See one of the nation’s favourite portraits, Choosing (1864, National Portrait Gallery), displayed alongside powerful protest paintings and abstract canvases, such as The Sower of the Systems (1902, Art Gallery of Ontario), which is returning to the UK for the first time in over a century. Find out more about the G. F. Watts exhibition from the Watts Gallery’s website.
Preview the exhibition below | See Apollo’s Picks of the Week here
Hope (1885–86), G.F. Watts. Private Collection
Choosing (Ellen Terry) (1864), G.F. Watts. © National Portrait Gallery, London
The Good Samaritan (1850) G.F. Watts. © Manchester City Galleries
Endymion (1903), G.F. Watts. Watts Gallery Trust
Henry Edward Manning (1882), G.F. Watts. © National Portrait Gallery, London
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The problem with portraits