£4,800
GEORGE SPENCER WATSON ROI, RP, ARA, RA (1869-1934) Eileen, signed and inscribed 'Eileen No 1' on an exhibition label attached verso, oil on canvas, laid down on board, 20 x 16 in.
Exhibited: The Royal Institute of Painters.
Dorset County Museum, Dorchester & Southampton Art Gallery 18 September 1981- 10 January 1982, no.30
Provenance: The artist's family, by descent
The sitter Elsie Hawthorne was a professional model who sat several times for Spencer Watson as well as Harold and Laura Knight. For another portrait of Elsie Hawthorne as the sitter compare with a portrait titled 'Cynthia', exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1932 (no.18)
After his election as an ARA in 1923, Spencer Watson was able to exhibit pictures at the Academy without passing through the selection committee. In the 1920s and early 30's he painted a number of portraits of the famous such as Lord Beaverbrook, and leading members of the London Livery Companies (Spencer Watson himself was a Master of The Worshipful Company of Saddlers) but perhaps his most interesting portraits at this time were of a less formal nature such as this example.
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