Subject: Lecture on George Frederic Watts
Kerri Offord, Heritage Collections Officer, Watts Gallery - Artists' Village Will give a talk: "Potatoes and Grit: The painting techniques and experiments of George Frederic Watts" Robing Room at Freemason's Hall 60 Great Queen Street London WC2B 5AZ Freemasons Hall is close to both Covent Garden and Holborn Tube Stations. The Victorian artist George Frederic Watts is perhaps best remembered as a portrait artist and for his social realism paintings. Much study has been undertaken into his life and the symbolism of his works. With the opening of Watts Studios, a new museum that explores the act of making and reinstates Watts's studio, time has been dedicated to the research of his painting techniques. From rubbing raw potato on his canvases, to leaving his works for several years in a greenhouse to see the effects of light on his completed works, Watts was a great experimenter. Using correspondence between Watts and Winsor and Newton, and the biography written by his wife, the designer Mary Watts, this talk will reveal the hopes of an artist to preserve his works for the public and explore his failures as a result of his experiments. Since joining Watts Gallery - Artists' Village in 2014 Kerri Offord has project managed and curated Watts Studios, an Heritage Lottery Fund supported project to reinstate the studio of G.F. Watts and create a new gallery dedicated to the work of the artist and designer Mary Watts. Watts Studios opened to the public on 26 January, 2016. Kerri Offord is currently working on several avenues of research relating to the techniques and influences of the Wattses and exploring the connection between their working practices. Doors open at 6pm Talk 6.30pm - 8pm. Tickets: ICON members: UKP10 Non-members: UKP15 Students UKP5 (student card required to be shown on the door) Free wine and cheese is included in price of ticket. Please apply for tickets through <URL:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/edit?eid=21403861526> Please note refunds for those unable to attend can only be issued if you notify us at least two days before the event. *** Conservation DistList Instance 29:37 Distributed: Sunday, February 14, 2016 Message Id: cdl-29-37-010 ***Received on Thursday, 11 February, 2016