Amiens Cathedral

Biography:

Charles John Watson (1846-1927)
Watson was born at 3 Upper Surrey Street, Norwich, Norfolk, on 31 August 1846, the second of four children of Daniel Filby Watson, a journeyman printseller, and his wife, Mary Ann (née Matthews). By 1861, the family had moved a short distance to All Saints Green, and Charles’s father, Daniel, was working as a carver and gilder. However, Daniel died in 1865, and his widow took up his former business as a printseller.

Charles John Watson himself initially worked an artists’ colourman, but obviously had ambitions to become an artist and, by his mid twenties, was beginning to exhibit paintings and etchings at leading London galleries. These included the Royal Academy, the Society of British Artists, the Institute of Painters in Water Colours 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.