Colin Webster Watson, Large Bronze Modernist Biomorphic Sculpture Abstract Bird Colin Webster Watson

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Colin Webster Watson (1926-2007).
A patinated cast bronze sculpture of a stylized bird with a steel ring.
Signed, numbered and … Read more Colin Webster Watson (1926-2007).
A patinated cast bronze sculpture of a stylized bird with a steel ring.
Signed, numbered and dated (1985). With a Tallix foundry mark.
Measures: H 30 1/2" x W 16" x D 18"
Provenance: Collection of Dick Polich, Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry.

Colin Webster-Watson (1926, Palmerston North, New Zealand – 2007, Eastbourne) was a New Zealand artist, sculptor and poet. Webster-Watson (he hyphenated his name later in life) grew up in Palmerston North, where he attended Palmerston North Boys' High School. He left New Zealand for Europe, developing a great admiration for early Egyptian, Greek and Roman art. He studied Pablo Picasso paintings and was particularly interested in the way that artist eliminated unnecessary lines and forms to reveal only the essence of creation. While visiting Paris he discovered the work of nineteenth-century sculptor Rodin, whose spirituality and sensuality have been a major influence on the development of the New Zealander's work. At the age of twenty, he traveled to Japan with the Commonwealth Occupation Force. While in Japan, his army superiors deemed that he would be better employed as an entertainer than a soldier, and gave him the responsibility to organise concerts for the troops. In 1954, Webster-Watson moved to London to become a dancer and comedian at the Windmill Theatre. His milieu was theatre. He performed regularly with the Palmerston North Operatic Society and the Manawatu Repertory company. For a time, he also worked as a radio sports reporter in Wales. Following the death of his father in 1960, Webster-Watson suffered a breakdown and moved to Italy. It was while running an orphanage in Alberobello that he discovered his love of sculpture and soon after established a studio in Rome. Hie oeuvre includes biomorphic nude, animal and mythological bronze and marble sculpture. Through an acquaintance he met Bice (Beatrice), "one of Rome's leading sculptresses" and became her pupil. Colin's bronze creations and his skills at self-promotion brought buyers flocking to his exhibitions, including celebrities of the era: movie stars Debbie Reynolds, Carroll Baker and Gloria Swanson; author Harold Robbins (whose letter of endorsement Colin had framed); Morris West, Robert Ardrey, Harold Robbins and Henry Rothschild. His work also graced the collection of Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis, Sarah Churchill, sometime actress and daughter of Winston Churchill, with whom he was said to have had a long romantic relationship.
Webster-Watson married New York socialite, Jane Ewing, whom he married and led a sociable, flamboyant life with, in the historic, well-heeled village of Wainscott on Long Island. In 1990. Polich and Tallix produced significant sculptural works over many years. He produced fine art sculptures with artists such as Willem de Kooning, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella, Helen Frankenthaler, ERTE, Julian Schnabel, Richard Artschwager, Isamu Noguchi, and many others. He later moved to Palm Springs, California, where he lived until 2004 when he returned to New Zealand. Webster-Watson donated several works to Wellington including Tail of the Whale (Oriental Bay), Frenzy (Ōwhiro Bay), Prowling Cheetah (Wellington Zoo), Mountain of Dreams (Wellington Zoo), La Famiglia (Wellington Hospital). Colin returned to New Zealand in 2004, welcomed by family and old friends. Settling in Wellington's Eastbourne with his beloved Pekinese dog Andrew, he lived out his last few years travelling and entertaining guests with his legendary cooking and anecdotes. He'd also written hundreds of poems over the years; these would be condensed into a posthumous book, Natural Zoo, by his niece Anne Manchester and writer Mary McCallum. Colin donated his rose marble Prodigal Son sculpture to Palmerston North ("because I'm the prodigal son," he joked). It's installed in the city council's customer service centre, placed – as he wished – to be looked at closely, from all angles. Colin died in 2007. See less