Adele Watson

American artist

Adele Watson

Born| (1873-04-30)April 30, 1873

Toledo, Ohio

Died| March 23, 1947(1947-03-23) (aged 73)

Pasadena, California

Nationality| American
Known for| Painting, Lithography
Bryce Canyon c. 1930

Fanny Adele Watson (1873-1947) was an American painter and lithographer.

Watson was born on April 30, 1873 in Toledo, Ohio.[1] In 1880 her family moved to Pasadena, California after the death of her father. She studied at the Art Students League of New York as a young adult, and returned to California in 1917. She traveled to Paris and became a pupil of Raphael Collin[2] and friends with poet/artist Khalil Gibran.[3] She exhibited and was a member of the American Artists Professional League, the Pen and Brush Club,[4] and the Society of Independent Artists. She also exhibited her work at the National Academy of Design.[5] She was influenced by Symbolism and Mysticism.[6]

Watson's first public exhibit was in 1913.[7] Watson's first New York solo exhibit was held in 1916 at the Folsom Galleries[8] and was reviewed as having "joy, freedom, vitality and abounding sense of rhythm."[9] Reviewing an exhibit of Watson's work in 1918, Anna T. Craig, writing for American Art News, suggested, "Miss Watson had especially the dramatic, epic and pageant sense for conveying her thoughts through her work."[10] Arthur Millier, writing for the Los Angeles Times in 1933 about Watson's exhibit of paintings and painted screens, suggested "Miss Watson see landscape in terms of the soul of man."[11] Millier continued, "this is her first Los Angeles showing of her works which have gained favor in the East."[11]

Watson's work is associated with the California Coast and Zion National Park in Utah.[12][13][14] Watson died in Pasadena, California, on March 23, 1947.[15]

In 1953 the Pasadena Art Institute held a retrospective of Watson's work,[6][16][17] and again in 1963, the Pasadena Art Institute held a memorial exhibition of her work.[18][19] Watson's work was included in the 2022-2023 exhibit, At the Dawn of a New Age: Early Twentieth-Century American Modernism, at the Whitney Museum of American Art[20][21] where examples of her work are also held.[22] Her work is also in the collections of the Orange County Museum of Art[5] and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.[23]

## Note

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There was another Adele Watson who was a contemporary who was an actress: Adele Watson (1890-1933) from Minnesota starred in over 20 films in the 1920s-1930s.[24]

## References

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1. ^ "Watson, Adele". Benezit Dictionary of Artists. 2011. doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00194897. ISBN 978-0-19-977378-7.
2. ^ Hughes, Edan. "Adele Watson". CalART.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
3. ^ "Khalil Gibran, Portrait of Adele Watson (1926)" (Facebook post of picture of drawing). Facebook. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023. "Khalil Gibran, Portrait of Adele Watson (1926), inscribed and signed at lower left 'To my friend Adele Watson, Kahlil Gibran, 1926'"
4. ^ "Pen and Brush Club, Show". American Art News. 18 (16): 3. 7 February 1920. ISSN 1944-0227. JSTOR 25589580.
5. ^ a b "Adele (Fanny) Watson". AskArt. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
6. ^ a b "Fanny Adele Watson Biography". Annex Galleries Fine Prints. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
7. ^ "Arts and Artists". American Art News. 13 (19): 7. 13 February 1915. ISSN 1944-0227. JSTOR 25588527. "Like her pictures shown at the Museum at her first public exhibition two years ago..."
8. ^ "Miss Watson's Pastorals". American Art News. 15 (9): 3. 18 November 1916. ISSN 1944-0227. JSTOR 25588974. "Adele Watson, who has a poetic tendency and some grace of composition, is displaying, at the Folsom Galleries..."
9. ^ "Pasadena Painter Given Plaudits: Adele Watson's Landscapes Impress New York; Brooklyn 'Eagle' Comments on Rhythmic Beauty Expressed on Canvas Shown at Her First Metropolitan Exhibition--Varying Ideals Contrasted". Los Angeles Times. 7 January 1917. pp. III 4.
10. ^ Craig, Anna T. (16 February 1918). "Paintings by Adele Watson". American Art News. 16 (19): 3. ISSN 1944-0227. JSTOR 25589232.
11. ^ a b Miller, Arthur (9 April 1933). "Reviews of Local Music and Art: Woman Painter's Vision Lends Wings to Landscape Adele Watson Peoples Earth With Poetic Beings; Pasadena Academy Sponsors Large Show; Other Exhibits". Los Angeles Times. pp. A6.
12. ^ "Adele (Fanny) Watson - Artist Facts". askART. Archived from the original on 15 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
13. ^ "Adele Watson - Artworks". Artnet. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
14. ^ "Women in Zion - Artists". Zion National Park. U.S. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
15. ^ "Adele Watson, Painter, Dies". Los Angeles Times. 24 March 1947. p. 5\. ISSN 0458-3035. "Miss Adele Watson, noted painter and daughter of early Southern California family, died yesterday at Huntington Memorial Hospital, Pasadena, after a brief illness."
16. ^ "In the Galleries: Sun Dominates Mood of Crown's Canvases". Los Angeles Times. 1 February 1953. pp. D8. "The [Pasadena Art Institute] also devotes considerable space to a retrospective exhibition of the paintings, drawings and prints of Adele Watson..."
17. ^ "Paintings and Drawings by Adele Watson". Norton Simon Museum. 1953. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
18. ^ "Complete Guide to Southland Entertainment and Culture - Art - Continuing Exhibits". Los Angeles Times. 24 February 1963. pp. B11.
19. ^ "Adele Watson Memorial". Norton Simon Museum. 1963. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
20. ^ Gural, Natasha (16 August 2022). "Whitney Museum Re-Informs Our Modernist Gaze, Celebrating Artists Who Have Been Under-Represented In Art History Alongside Leading Masters". Forbes. Archived from the original on 11 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
21. ^ "At the Dawn of a New Age: Early Twentieth-Century American Modernism". Whitney Museum of American Art. 2022. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
22. ^ "Adele Watson". Whitney Museum of American Art. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
23. ^ "Search: Adele Watson". Philadelphia Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
24. ^ "Adele Watson (1890-1933)". IMDb. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.

## External links

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* Media related to Fanny Adele Watson at Wikimedia Commons