Talk:George Frederic Watts

Untitled
In Barack Obama's memoir, Dreams From My Father, he says that the painting of Hope by GF Watts changed his life. I suppose that is notable to mention instances of when something like this has inspired someone but I can't think of how to do it right now. --Aspro (talk) 17:58, 18 November 2008 (UTC)


 * He's not the first. Henrietta Barnett tells the story of several people who said the same thing, as did Watts himself. I discuss it in this article I wrote some years ago. Maybe we should create a page on the painting. Paul B (talk) 18:15, 18 November 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm thinking that an article on a single painting might read too much like an essay (unless such a painting has had a very eventful history as well) . Yet the power to inspire, that some artworks possess, is very notable -or so I think.  In the first instance therefore, I definitely think that the power of this image of  'Hope' needs its own paragraph or section in this same article.  It would probably benefit  from a few psychological explanations behind this quality. Although some might say: it's real power is ineffable.
 * After a (very) quick look around WP, I can't see any article where this phenomena inherent in some artworks is discussed (with the possible exception of Visual Communication), so some such article  along these lines is something to consider. However, I don't know enough about Watts to be able to contribute much. (Interesting article of yours by the way).--Aspro (talk) 20:09, 19 November 2008 (UTC)

New files
Recently the files below were uploaded and they appear to be relevant to this article and not currently used by it. If you're interested and think they would be a useful addition, please feel free to include any of them.

The middle one, a selfportrait, seems particularly useful. Dcoetzee 13:52, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Third copy of the "Physical Energy" statue:
In addition to the two copies mentioned in the Wikipedia article, a third used to be displayed in Harare, Zimbabwe (formerly Salisbury, Rhodesia) towards the south-west corner of the space bounded by the Courtauld Theatre, the College of Music, the Museum of Human Sciences and the Harare City Library.

If I remember correctly, it was, like the copy in Cape Town, dedicated to "the genius of Cecil Rhodes". It was removed from public display after independence and, as far as I know, is in storage somewhere.

Nat (talk) 20:46, 6 October 2013 (UTC)

Marriage to Ellen Terry
This is not discussed very well. As I understood it, Ellen was 'sent back' to her family as being unsuitable, rather than leaving Watts for another man as implied in this article. She did elope with Godwin, but only after her marriage to Watts had failed. ixo (talk) 16:39, 28 November 2018 (UTC)

spelling of name
I am wondering why there's no mention of the spelling Frederick for his middle name (as sometimes/often used in England for G F Handel - and acknowledged on Handel's Wikipedia page.) One should note that the spelling Frederick is used in all three General Record Office index entries (for both his marriages and for his death) and in Chesterton's biography of him which, in the first (1904) edition, states that he "was born on 23rd February 1817, and he is still alive." (The 1906 edition adds a footnote that "* He died on 1st July 1904", while later editions drop the 5 words following "1817".) Heraldica (talk) 22:37, 16 July 2022 (UTC)