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that his father's clients could be interested in buying works of art. Having acquired the business of Ogilvy when Ogilvy retired in 1908, he became an art dealer as well as an art critic for the newspapers, with a one-room gallery at the back of his father`s store. There, Watson sold
European and British art, some of it sent to him from the firm of Vicars Brothers of Bond Street, London, England, a firm to which he had been introduced by Ogilvy. Hazel Vicars was Watson's mentor in both art and life. Vicars had fundamental honesty, keen perception, and a positive attitude to life, qualities that Watson admired.
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117:, England. He immigrated to Canada in 1905 and got his first job, with John Ogilvy, a former dry goods merchant who ran an art business as a hobby. He recalled later that they sold contemporary French, English, and Dutch paintings, sent from England by Harry Wallis, an art dealer in London. Watson believed that the art shop of John Ogilvy was the first gallery in Montreal devoted exclusively to art.
234:. In 1926, he gave one-person exhibitions to Cullen's stepson, Robert Pilot, his first, as well as Robinson and Suzor-Coté. In the period from 1927 to 1929, he gave Suzor-Côté a major exhibition as well as giving three one-person shows to Pilot. In the 1930s, besides Cullen, he showed the work of Pilot in nine one-person shows as well as showing the work of
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In 1921, after his father's death, when Watson's
Antique Galleries closed, William Watson opened Watson Art Galleries, which sold art goods exclusively at 679 St. Catherine Street West (St. Catherine and Bishop). In 1932, he moved to 1434 Sherbrooke Street West, where he remained until he retired in
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Watson, who advocated that Ogilvy take on works of
Canadian art, was told that they were too noisy to mix with quiet Dutch pictures. However, when Watson's father, Robinson Watson (1851–1920), formerly a prosperous jute merchant in England, established an antique shop in Montreal, Watson discovered
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Among these artists, he had a special relationship with Cullen, whom he met around 1908 and whose work he began to sell that year and in the years that followed: he held thirteen one-person shows for Cullen from 1923 to 1935. These shows were well attended and a commercial success, which made an
91:(1887 – March 6, 1973) was an English-born Canadian art dealer who, through his staunch friendships with artists and his energetic enthusiasm for their work, helped establish the market for Canadian art. By the second half of the 1920s, he was Montreal's leading art dealer.
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When he closed the Watson Art
Gallery in 1958 at seventy-one years of age, Jackson wrote a letter in which he acknowledged Watson's role, writing "You have known, and been a good friend to nearly all the artists, and must have happy memories of them."
157:. He helped these artists, even placing shows at galleries other than his own. In 1914, when he became President of the Montreal Arts Club, he organized one-person shows in the Club of Morrice and Jackson. Other Canadian artists such as
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from the firm of Durand-Ruel, which had been the artist's champion. In Canada, Watson was one of the first art dealers to carry and promote
Canadian art, becoming friendly in the process with artists such as
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In 1982, the prominent
Canadian art dealer G. Blair Laing wrote in his "Memoirs of an Art Dealer2" that Watson deserves credit as one of Montreal`s most reliable dealers, writing that
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The first
Canadian painting he sold, in 1906 when he was with Ogilvy, was by Frederick S. Coburn, and he maintained a friendship with Coburn and sold his work, as well as that of
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immense difference to Cullen. In 1926, Cullen had enough money to move from
Montreal and buy a house at Chambly, where he settled with his family, all due to Watson.
269:, writer Arnold Edinborough described it as "a sunny account of a life lived in the midst of great paintings and among a host of artists who became friends."
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Watson is credited for his role in encouraging the growth of Canada's art scene. His papers and ledger book are included in the
Library and Archives of the
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287:"When you see a Watson label on a picture he has previously sold, you can be absolutely sure it is a genuine work by the artist represented".
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Watson was married to CĂ©cile BĂ©rard. They had two daughters, Claire and Louise.
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521:"Maurice Cullen, R.C.A.: A Record of Struggle and Achievement"
476:, pp. 727–728 Cullen notes #8, who quotes from Leo Cox,
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Watson died on March 6, 1973, at the age of 86. His memoir,
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In 1925, after the death of
Brymner, he organized a show of
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Maurice Cullen, R.C.A.: A Record of Struggle and Achievement
633:. Stuttgart: Arnoldsche Art Publishers. pp. 266–295.
492:, p. 502, who quotes from a review of March 10, 1911.
360:. National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives, Ottawa
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Retrospective: Recollections of a Montreal Art Dealer
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Retrospective: Recollections of a Montreal Art Dealer
276:. Another William Robinson Watson fonds is held by
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449:"Books to get high with: shuttling Canadian skies"
630:Impressionism in Canada: A Journey of Rediscovery
215:In 1931, Watson published a book about Cullen,
604:. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. p. 36
259:Retrospective: Recollections of an Art Dealer
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228:All the Remaining Paintings and Water Colors
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480:(Montreal: Arts Club, 1962, pp. 7–8).
412:. University of Toronto Press, 1974.
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478:Portrait of a Montreal Arts Club
250:Personal life, death and legacy
16:Canadian art dealer (1887-1973)
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147:Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté
531:– via books.google.ca.
429:– via books.google.ca.
358:"Watson Art Galleries fonds"
693:English emigrants to Canada
573:"A tale of two art dealers"
552:. March 3, 1973. p. 41
406:Watson, William R. (1974).
278:Library and Archives Canada
263:University of Toronto Press
113:Watson was born in 1887 in
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658:National Gallery of Canada
654:Watson Art Galleries fonds
280:(MG30-D310, R2836-0-1-E).
274:National Gallery of Canada
219:. In 1934, he organized a
601:Memoirs of an Art Dealer2
598:Laing, G. Blair (1982).
89:William Robinson Watson
67:March 6, 1973 (aged 86)
35:William Robinson Watson
683:People from Freshfield
627:Prakash, A.K. (2015).
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523:. Ryerson Press, 1931
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203:Advertisement in the
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103:Advertisement in the
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82:English-born Canadian
688:Canadian art dealers
621:General bibliography
190:Otto Reinhold Jacobi
139:James Wilson Morrice
519:Watson, William R.
186:Cornelius Krieghoff
223:of Cullen's work.
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170:Albert H. Robinson
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640:978-3-89790-427-9
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579:. p. 8
577:The Gazette
550:The Gazette
79:Nationality
667:Categories
546:"Obituary"
292:References
178:Emily Carr
115:Freshfield
63:1973-03-06
49:Freshfield
297:Citations
51:, England
608:July 11,
73:, Canada
71:Montreal
656:at the
40: (
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207:, 1930
153:, and
125:1958.
109:, 1922
635:ISBN
610:2022
585:2020
558:2020
529:2020
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427:2020
414:ISBN
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238:and
188:and
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95:Life
57:Died
42:1887
38:1887
31:Born
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