Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 23

George Spencer Watson
My Lady of the Rose Portrait of Hilda, the Artist's Wife - British oil painting

1911

$164,420
£120,000
€139,973.54
CA$225,214.29
A$250,487.45
CHF 130,796.76
MX$3,048,165.87
NOK 1,670,474.28
SEK 1,566,610.17
DKK 1,044,676.15
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

This superb British exhibited portrait oil painting is by noted artist George Spencer Watson. The influence of Lord Frederick Leighton and the Italian Renaissance can easily be seen. Entitled My Lady of the Rose, the sitter is his much loved wife, Hilda Gardiner. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy London in 1911 and has been handed down through the family. Watson also painted Hilda's two sisters, Elsie and Lillian and the family likeness is apparent. Known affectionately as 'Ginger', Hilda was a classical violinist trained in Europe. As a dancer and mime artist, Hilda was heavily influenced by the free form Greek style of Loie Fuller and Isadora Duncan. Her passion for dancing continued until the end of her life. She regularly organised and took part in performances both in London and later in the theatre that she built at Dunshay Manor, the Spencer Watsons's home on the Isle of Purbeck. The symbolic title for the portrait 'My Lady of the Rose' reflects the artist's deep reverence for Hilda. The symbolism of the Rose as a symbol of love but also of new beginnings, an appropriate theme for the portrait painted in 1909, to celebrate his marriage to the sitter. The figures in the background perhaps reflect both the sitter and artist's interest in mythology and the arts. A winged figure fires an arrow which strikes another figure on whose belt the artist has signed his initials. The vibrant blues and reds and the fantastic brushwork and delicate detail in Hilda's face make this a stunning, deeply personal portrait of a much loved wife. Signed GSW upper right. Provenance. The Royal Academy, 1911 no.368 entitled My Lady of the Rose. Bermondsey Settlement Picture Exhibition, 1913, label verso. Dresden exhibition label verso. William Harold Gardiner, ; Joan Gardiner (in Australia); Robin Tassell, of Dovehouse Stanwick, Northants; Richard Thompson & Mary Spencer Watson; Thence by descent. Condition. Oil on canvas, 44 inches by 34 inches and in good condition. Frame. Housed in a beautiful original gilt frame, 51 inches by 41 inches, in good condition. George Spencer Watson, ROI, RP, ARA, RA (1869-1934) Born in London the son of a surgeon, George Spencer Watson trained as an artist at St. John's Wood and The Royal Academy Schools from 1889. He was an English portrait artist of the late romantic school who sometimes worked in the style of the Italian Renaissance. Exhibiting at the RA from 1891, George Spencer Watson's best Edwardian portraits show a controlled aestheticism and display the influence of John Singer Sargent. Although his earlier preference had been to paint subject pictures in the tradition of Lord Leighton and George Frederick Watts, Spencer Watson's later success as a society portraitist led to a steady stream of commissions. After 1900 Spencer Watson began exhibiting regularly at The Royal Academy, at The New Gallery and at The Society of Portrait painters of which he became an active member. Until the First World War he also exhibited at the Paris Salon regularly until the 1914 War, and he had a one man touring show in 1912. In 1909 he married Hilda Mary Gardiner, a dancer and mime artist, and follower of the actor Edward Gordon Craig. They had a daughter, Mary Spencer Watson (1913–2006), who became a sculptor. In the year of 1923 he bought Dunshay Manor in the hills of the Isle of Purbeck, after already having spent holidays in nearby Swanage. He died in London at age 65 and a memorial exhibition was held at the Fine Art Society in the same year. There is a memorial to him in the north vestibule of St James's Church, Piccadilly. Some of his works are held at Tate Britain, the Harris Art Gallery, Preston and collections in Bournemouth, Liverpool, Plymouth and the National Gallery of Canada. Born in London, Watson studied at the Royal Academy from 1889; he exhibited there from 1891 and also at the Paris salon. Retrospective exhibitions were held at the Galerie Heinemann, Munich in 1912, and at the Fine Art Society in 1914. His work A Lady in Black (1922) is owned by the Tate Collection.
  • Creator:
    George Spencer Watson
  • Creation Year:
    1911
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 51 in (129.54 cm)Width: 41 in (104.14 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU853114449692

More From This Seller

View All
Portrait of Mrs William Tisdall Elsie Gardiner - British Edwardian oil painting
Located in London, GB
This superb large British Edwardian exhibited portrait oil painting is by noted artist George Spencer Watson. It was painted in 1909 and exhibite...
Category

Early 1900s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of Lillian Gardiner Mrs Jack Allen British Edwardian art oil painting
Located in London, GB
This superb British portrait oil painting is by noted artist George Spencer Watson and is dateable to 1913. The sitter is Lillian Gardiner ( Mrs ...
Category

1910s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Girl Holding Wool - British Edwardian female portrait oil painting
Located in London, GB
This beautiful British Edwardian portrait oil painting is by noted and much exhibited female artist Maud Marion Wear. Wear trained at the Royal Academy Schools in London for five yea...
Category

Early 1900s Pre-Raphaelite Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of Emma Woods - British Victorian art oil painting noted female artist
By Annie Louisa Swynnerton
Located in London, GB
This stunning British Victorian portrait oil painting is by noted female artist Annie Louisa Swynnerton. The sitter is Emma Woods, nee King (1806-1896). Emma was the wife of Samuel ...
Category

1890s Victorian Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of Mrs Bury Barry - British Edwardian art oil painting
Located in London, GB
This striking British Edwardian oval portrait oil painting is by noted artist Maurice Greiffenhagen. Painted circa 1901 the sitter is Mrs Bury Barry from a landed gentry family. It is a half length portrait which combines Greiffenhagen's skill as a portraitist and his tendencies towards theatricality and romance, in part effectively conveyed by the dramatic lighting, which highlights the sitter's skin revealed by the low neckline of her dress, and the rose which she holds to her chest and which matches the red of her blushing cheeks. The brushwork, detail and colouring are superb. This is a lovely British Edwardian portrait and an excellent example of Greiffenhagen's work. Signed and inscribed 'MAURICE GREIFFENHAGEN / 2 LONDON RD N.W. / [PORTR]AIT OF MRS BURY BARRY' on the upper stretcher bar, Provenance. With the Art Exhibitions Bureau, London, label verso. Anon. sale, Christie's, London, 23 March 2016, lot 39. and also 14th Juky 1986 James Bourlet - label verso Condition. Oil on canvas, 36 inches by 28 inches and in good condition. Frame. Housed in an ornate gilt oval frame, 46 inches by 38 inches, in good condition. Maurice William Greiffenhagen, RA, British (1862-1931). Greiffenhagen worked as a painter, illustrator and graphic designer and taught at the Glasgow School of Art from 1906 to 1926. His output was widely varied, ranging from stylised graphic work, to more formal, restrained portraits, and to his somewhat fantastical mythical and allegorical scenes. One of his most celebrated works amongst contemporaries was his sensual and atmospheric 1891 painting...
Category

Early 1900s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Lady - British Edwardian art female portrait oil painting
Located in London, GB
This lovely British Edwardian Impressionist portrait oil painting is by noted artist Percy William Gibbs. Pained circa 1910 it is a head and shoulders portrait in semi profile of a d...
Category

1910s Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

You May Also Like

19th Century Pre-Raphaelite Oil Painting King Arthur's Queen Guinevere Camelot
Located in Gerrards Cross, GB
‘Guinevere’ by Norman Prescott-Davies R.B.A, R.C.A. (1861-1915). The painting – which depicts an English medieval portrait of Queen Guinevere at Amesbury Priory contemplating her lov...
Category

Late 19th Century Pre-Raphaelite Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

A Pre-Raphaelite Beauty. A Portrait of a lady by Josef Arnhold. Oil on canvas
Located in St. Albans, GB
A wonderful painting of a beautiful woman in the style of the Pre-Raphaelites. It is signed Arnhold. It is in very condition and in the original frame. Picture Size: 21 x 21" (51 ...
Category

1850s Pre-Raphaelite Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

19th Century portrait oil painting of a young woman with pearls & a rose
By Alfred Seifert
Located in Nr Broadway, Worcestershire
Alfred Seifert Czech, (1850-1901) Portrait of a Young Woman with a Pearl Necklace & Rose Oil on panel, signed Image size: 15.5 inches x 12 inches Size including frame: 23 inches x...
Category

19th Century Victorian Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Portrait Of A Rosalin Isabel 19th Century Pre-Raphaelite / Arts & Crafts School
Located in Blackwater, GB
Portrait Of A Rosalin Isabel, 19th Century Pre-Raphaelite School Large 19th Century portrait of a lady "Rosalin Isabel", oil on canvas tondo. Excellent quality and condition side ...
Category

Late 19th Century Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Antique English Pre-Raphaelite Oil Portrait of a Young Woman in Pensive Thought
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: English School Circa 1900 Title: Portrait of a young woman, head and shoulders Medium: oil on board, framed within an antique 'Florentine' gilt frame. actual pain...
Category

19th Century Pre-Raphaelite Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Mid 20th Century French Oil Pre-Raphaelite Portrait of a Lady
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Working Sketch by Louise Alix (French, 1888-1980) *see notes below provenance stamp to the back oil painting on artist paper stuck on board, unframed measures: 10.5 high by 12 inche...
Category

Mid-20th Century Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil