Mary Spencer Watson

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Mary Spencer Watson
Central School of Arts and Crafts
Known forSculpture

Mary Spencer Watson (7 May 1913 – 7 March 2006) was an English sculptor. Watson was born in London and spent most of her life in Dorset and was inspired by watching masons carving Purbeck stone, close to her family home there. Her works can be seen at Cambridge University and Wells Cathedrals, among other sites.

Biography

Watson was born in London and in 1923 her family moved to a country house in Dorset.[1] Her father was the artist George Spencer Watson and her mother, Hilda, was a dancer and mime artist.[2] Her father purchased Dunshay Manor situated in the parish of Worth Matravers which became Watson's home for the rest of her life.[2] The family decorated the Manor in the arts and crafts style and used its outbuildings as studios and for dance and theatre productions.[3] Dunshay Manor was near Langton Matravers on the Isle of Purbeck and there were several stone quarries in the area. Watson became fascinated by the masons and quarrymen she saw working the local Purbeck stone with traditional tools and decided to become a sculptor.[2][4]

Watson attended

Central School of Art and Crafts in 1936 where she was taught by John Skeaping and Alfred Turner.[5][2][6]

In 1937, Watson had her first solo exhibition, consisting of pieces in terracotta, marble, wood and alabaster, at the

Mansard Gallery at Heal's in Tottenham Court Road.[8] Later that year she spent three months in the Paris studio of Ossip Zadkine at 100 bis, rue d'Assas, now the Musée Zadkine, where she carved a number of compositions, including an eight foot high figure.[8] Watson returned to England in 1938 and remained there during World War II, which she spent doing farm work at Dunshay Manor and teaching art and sculpture in schools throughout Dorset.[8]

Chiron (1953), Harlow, Essex

After the War, Watson received several public commissions, often for large architectural pieces. These included two commissions from the architect Sir

Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, with pieces shown at Salisbury Cathedral, in 2004.[1][12]

For fifty years until her death, Watson was in a relationship with Margot Baynes who lived at Dunshay Manor with her children. Watson bequeathed the property to the Landmark Trust who, after a lengthy legal argument with Margot's daughter, Hetty Baynes, restored the Manor and began hosting public events there in April 2019.[13][3]

Selected exhibitions

Four Symbols of the Evangelists, Wells Cathedral
  • Mansard Gallery, Heal's, London, 1937 (first solo exhibition)
  • National Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, Potters, 1940, 1947
  • Royal Academy, London, 1940–1934
  • Women's International Arts Club, 1947, 1950, 1951
  • Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society, Victoria & Albert Museum, 1950
  • Dorset County Museum, 1976, 1981, 1998 (solo)
  • New Art Centre, London, 1985, 1989, 1990 (solo)
  • New Art Centre, Roche Court, Wiltshire, 1987–2004
  • Pelter Sands, Bristol, 1988, 1990
  • Cookham Trinity Arts Festival, 1994 (solo)

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-953260-95-X
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e Brian Morley (18 March 2006). "Mary Spencer Watson". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  3. ^ a b Vanessa Thorpe (12 May 2019). "Arts and crafts masterpiece Dunshay Manor reopens after legal wrangle". The Observer. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  4. ^ Pauline Rose (23 November 2020). "A look at Britain's neglected professional women sculptors". Art UK. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  5. ^
    ISBN 1-85149-106-6
    .
  6. ^ a b James Mackay (1977). The Dictionary of Western Sculptors in Bronze. Antique Collectors' Club.
  7. ^ University of Glasgow History of Art / HATII (2011). "Mary Spencer Watson (1913–2006)". Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain & Ireland 1851–1951. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Peyton Skipwith (10 March 2006). "Obituary:- Mary Spencer Watson". The Independent. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Trail 1 – South Cambridge". Cambridge Sculpture Trails. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  10. OCLC 851974184.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  11. ^ Grant M. Waters (1975). Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900–1950. Eastbourne Fine Art.
  12. ^ "Mary Spencer Watson Sculpture Retrospective". BBC Wiltshire. 27 November 2004. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  13. ^ Paul Lewis (14 July 2008). "Actor loses court battle over £2.3m estate of mother's lesbian lover". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2019.

External links

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