Collection search - William Robinson Watson fonds [graphic material, textual record]

Record information – Brief
1
William Robinson Watson fonds [graphic material, textual record]

Hierarchical level:

Fonds

Date:

1910-[before 1974].

Reference:

R2836-0-1-E, MG30-D310

Type of material:

Photographs, Textual material

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

102335

Context of this record:

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William Robinson Watson fonds
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Record information – Details
Fonds includes:

12 lower level description(s)
View lower level description(s)

Date(s):

1910-[before 1974].

Place of creation:

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent:

ca. 61 photographs b&w.
15 cm of textual records.

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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Fonds consists of photographic material depicting portraits of artists Robert Pilot, F.W. Hutchinson, Clarence Gagnon, M.A. Suzor-Cote, J.W. Morrice, Horatio Walker, A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, Marius Barbeau, Harold Beamont, and Maurice Cullen; views of Cullen's house and studio; view of the Watson Galleries; and Montreal Military photographs relating to Watson's World War I naval services.

The fonds also contains correspondence with A.Y. Jackson, relating largely to his business relationship with Watson; Robert Pilot correspondence which documents the close friendship between Pilot and Watson; Maurice Cullen letter relating to the sale of one of his paintings; Harold Beament correspondence relating to his war service and his painting; World War I correspondence relating to Watson's naval career; manuscript of Retrospective: Recollections of a Montreal Art Dealer; clippings of Watson's articles on Thoreau published in the Montreal Gazette.

Provenance:

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Watson, William R. (William Robinson), 1887-1973

Biography/Administrative history:

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Watson, William R. (William Robinson), 1887-1973 : William R. Watson, art dealer and author, immigrated to Canada from England in 1905 and took over the business of Montreal art dealer John Ogilvy when he retired in 1908. He established the Watson Art Galleries on the corner of St. Catherine and Bishop streets in Montreal in 1921 and moved to Sherbrooke St. in 1932. He made annual trips to Europe to acquire Dutch, French and English paintings to sell in his gallery, but also adopted a policy of promoting Canadian art, one of the first dealers to do so.

He met Newfoundland-born artist Maurice Cullen, a brilliant landscape painter and, as well as representing him at his gallery until Cullen's death in 1934, gave him his first major exhibition in 1922. Through Cullen, Watson met Cullen's stepson, Robert Pilot, who became a successful landscape artist and president of the Royal Canadian Academy. Watson gave Pilot his first one-man show in 1937 and continued to represent him until he closed his gallery in 1958. He also represented popular Group of Seven artist A.Y. Jackson and Montreal artist Harold Beament. Watson wrote a short memoir of his life, Retrospective: Recollections of a Montreal Art Dealer, published posthumously in 1974.

See: Canadian Who's Who, 1970-1972, p.1158.

Finding aid:

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Textual records: (Paper) Finding aid is a detailed file list of volume 1. MSS1478

Additional information:

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General note:

Received in 1983 and 1984 from Claire Watson Fisher of Ottawa, Ont., and Louise Slemin of Toronto, Ont.
Subject heading:

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Art galleries, Commercial - Canada, 1917-1973 The Gazette, 1931

Painters - Canada, 1924-1967 Carl Shaefer, 1939-1944

A.Y. Jackson (Alexander Young) - Correspondence, 1932-1935 George Pepper, 1939-1944

A.Y. Jackson (Alexander Young) - Career in painting, 1932-1935 Anthony Law, 1939-1944

Robert Pilot - Correspondence, 1924-1967 Maurice Cullen, 1929

William Robinson Watson - Correspondence, 1924-1967 Watson Art Galleries, 1924-1967

William Robinson Watson - Journeys, 1924-1967

Harold Beamont - Correspondence, 1939-1944

World War II - Art and the war, 1939-1944

Inventions - Canada, 1917-1920

Art dealers Canada
Source:

Private

Related control no.:

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1984-334 NPC

Former archival reference no.:

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MG30-D310
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

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Graphic (photo)

[Consultation90 Open]

Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Finding aid box [FA 1478] 116

[Consultation 10 Closed]

Terms of use:

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Photographs: No restrictions on use or reproduction. Various copyrights on items less than 50 years old; copyright is expired on items more than 50 years old. Credit: Name of photographer / National Archives of Canada / Copy negative no.

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