Nan Watson (1876 – 1966)

33. Flower Bouquet, c. 1930s

Watercolor on paper, 12 x 9 ½ inches (sheet), 15 x 12 ½ inches (framed), signed lower left

$750

About the Artist

Nan Watson was born in 1876 in Scotland but immigrated with her family to the United States as a young child. Her artistic practice focused on flower paintings and female portraits. She was raised in Buffalo, New York. At the age of 18, she traveled back to Scotland with her family for three years. During this time, she studied in Paris at the Académie Colarossi, a school that not only admitted female students but also allowed them to paint and sketch from live male models. In 1898, she returned to Buffalo and studied at the Buffalo Art Students’ League. In 1906, she moved to Manhattan, where she lived for the next 27 years, initially studying at the Art Students League. In 1933, she moved to Washington, D.C. when her husband, Forbes Watson was appointed as an administrator for the Public Works of Art Project. In 1934, she became a clerk at the Treasury Department’s Section of Painting and Sculpture. From the 1910s through the 1930s, Nan Watson exhibited extensively including at the Whitney Club, the National Academy of Design, and major New York galleries – Knoelder, Wildenstein, Rehn, and Kraushaar. She is listed in Who Was Who in American Art and all other standard references.