George Spencer Watson, R.A., R.O.I.

London, Artist's memorial exhibition, The Fine Art Society, 1934, no. 34;

London, Royal Academy, 1909, no. 733;

Liverpool, Liverpool Academy, 1909, no. 827;

Paris Salon, 1911;

Dresden, Kunstsalon Emil Richter, 1912;

Dorset County Museum and Southampton Art Gallery, George Spencer Watson, 1981–2, no. 2.

George Spencer Watson was one of the leading portrait painters of the Edwardian period and after. His portraiture has a glamorous and elegant quality, which was both modern and reminiscent of Renaissance precedents. His A Lady in Black of 1922 and Hilda and Maggie, a beautiful portrait of his wife and dog painted in 1911, are now at Tate, whilst other fine examples of his work can be found in the public collections of Bournemouth, Liverpool, Wolverhampton, Preston, Plymouth and in the National Gallery of Canada.

Miss Monica Boyd was regularly exhibited during the artist’s lifetime and remained in his collection - it is likely therefore that it was not a commissioned portrait. It seems that it may be a depiction of a professional model painted to demonstrate the artist’s fashionable elegance rather than a mere depiction of a Society sitter. The theatricality and confidence of Miss Boyd’s pose and costume suggests that she may have been an actress or singer, although her identity remains a mystery.