Watts, George Frederic (1817-1904), was one of the most popular British painters and sculptors of the Victorian period. During his lifetime, Watts was internationally celebrated for his allegories that attempted to teach a moral lesson. A typical example is the several versions of his painting Hope. Today, critics do not rank Watts’s allegories highly. However, he is considered one of the major portrait painters of his time. Watts took up sculpture in the late 1860’s. His best-known work is Physical Energy, a monumental study of a horse and rider Watts worked on to the end of his life.
Watts was born on Feb. 23, 1817, in London. In 1843, he won a prize for the decoration of the new Palace of Westminster in London. He used the prize money to go to Italy for four years, where he studied fresco technique. His exposure to the masters of Renaissance art in Italy influenced his later work. Watts was elected to the Royal Academy in 1867. He died on July 1, 1904.
