Old Battersea Bridge View, Chelsea, 1879 - Etching on Paper by Charles John Watson

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Old Battersea Bridge View, Chelsea, 1879 - Etching on Paper

Black and white 1897 etching titled "Old Battersea Bridge View" … Read more Old Battersea Bridge View, Chelsea, 1879 - Etching on Paper

Black and white 1897 etching titled "Old Battersea Bridge View" by Charles John Watson (British, 1846-1947). View at Chelsea from the bank of the Thames, with boats moored in foreground at left, Old Battersea Bridge in background, and Chelsea Old Church beyond.
Signed and dated "Charles J Watson 1879" "Chelsea" lower left.

Presented in a black mat.
Mat: 16"H x 20"W
Paper: 11"H x 14"W
Image: 6 3/4"H x 10 3/4"L

Charles John Watson was born in Norwich, Norfolk in 1846. Watsons parents owned a small print selling business, with his dad working as a carver and gilder. From a young age, Charles began learning printmaking, painting and etching and soon began exhibiting his paintings and etchings in galleries around London. These included the Royal Academy, the Society of British Artists, the Institute of Painters in Water Colors and, most significantly, the Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers.
Watson was one of the earliest fellows of the Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, joining after the ‘Allcomers’ exhibition in spring 1881, and exhibiting a considerable number of etchings between then and 1920, with increasing artistic success. (The society gained its Royal Charter in 1888.) While establishing himself with scenes of Norfolk, he soon widened his repertoire.
In 1885, Watson helped found the Norwich Art Circle, with Edward Elliott and Robert Bagge-Scott, and became its first president. Other early members included Minna Bolingbroke, his junior by 10 years, who would later become his wife. Despite his strong affiliations to Norfolk, and to Norwich in particular, including his knowledge of the history of local artists, he moved to London in 1888. Settling in Chelsea, he took a studio at 5 Wentworth Studios, Manresa Road, and produced work for a series of shows at Robert Dunthorne’s Gallery in Vigo Street, often inspired by his travels in France, Holland and Italy (including Venice and Sicily). He also became a member of the Hogarth Club, in Dover Street. By 1893, he had sufficiently raised his profile that he won a medal at Chicago’s International Exhibition. His work is represented in numerous public collections, including the V&A; and the Castle Museum (Norwich). See less