Melbourne 1919-1995
I always sought new methods of painting, both technically and aesthetically. This may seem to have resulted in many different styles. Seen in retrospect though, there seems to be a fairly direct course (with a few byways) from the early pictures done directly from the subject to a greater interest in light and colour than to a design and form conscious type of painting.
Pursuit along these lines naturally led to greater interest in the language of visual art and less to the observed subject and eventually the bigger step of non-figurative painting. Virtually all paintings done since 1951 have not been evoked by any observed or imagined physical subject. They aim instead at the rhythmic and/or proportional use of tones, shapes and colours only, to give a satisfying and interesting result.
-Percy Watson
PERCY WATSON
1919 – 1995, Melbourne
STUDIED
1935-38 Swinburne Technical School
1945-46 George Bell School
1953 RMIT
WORKED as animation artist with CSIRO Film Unit
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2005 Percy Watson- Selected Works 1935-1975, Eastgate & Holst Gallery
1998 Percy Watson- Selected Works 1935-1969, Eastgate Gallery
1996 Percy Watson-Retrospective 1935-1995, Eastgate Gallery
1975 Percy Watson Retrospective, Hawthorn City Art Gallery
1952 Paintings by Percy Watson, Peter Bray Galleries
1949 Percy Watson, Melbourne Book Club Gallery
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017 Groupshow, Eastgate Gallery
Abstraction 16, Charles Nodrum Gallery
2015 Little Pictures Exhibition, Charles Nodrum Gallery
Abstraction 15, Charles Nodrum Gallery
2012 Modern Australian Painting, Charles Nodrum Gallery
2009 Little Pictures Exhibition, Charles Nodrum Gallery
2008 Directors Choice Exhibition, Eastgate & Holst Gallery
2007 Works on Paper, Eastgate & Holst Gallery
2006 A.D.S Donaldson Exhibition, Charles Nodrum Gallery
2004 A Collectors Exhibition, Eastgate & Holst Gallery
2003 A Collectors Exhibition, Eastgate Gallery
2002 A Collectors Exhibition, Eastgate Gallery
2000 A Collectors Exhibition, Eastgate Gallery
1997 A Collectors Exhibition, Eastgate Gallery
1993 An Autumn Collection, D.A & H.M Bradshaw Fine Art
1992 Classical Modernism – The George Bell Circle, NGV
1991 Australian Surrealist Paintings, Charles Nodrum Galleries
Collectors Graphics & Drawings 1945-1990, D.A & H.M Bradshaw Fine Art
Traditional Modern & Contemporary Australian Paintings, Drawings & Graphics, D.A & H.M Bradshaw Fine Art & Shearers Arms, Geelong
Works on Paper, Eastgate Gallery
1990 Modern Australian Paintings, Charles Nodrum Gallery
Works on Paper, D.A & H.M Bradshaw Fine Art
1989 Modern Australian Paintings, Charles Nodrum Gallery
Paintings and Prints of the 1960s, Allyn Fisher Fine Arts, Bendigo
1988 Modern Australian Paintings, Charles Nodrum Gallery
1986 Merindah Lodge Art Exhibition, 50 on Paper, Camperdown
1982 Hawthorn Artists, Hawthorn City Art Gallery
1981 The George Bell School – Students, Friends, Influences, Georges Gallery Melbourne
1979 Early Works and Others Selected from the Harry Rosengrave Collection, Hawthorn City Art Gallery
1970 Twenty Melbourne Painters 52nd Annual Exhibition
1969 Twenty Melbourne Painters 51st Annual Exhibition
Cowra Art Award Exhibition, Cowra
1967 Twenty Melbourne Painters 49th Annual Exhibition
1966 Twenty Melbourne Painters 48th Annual Exhibition
1965 Twenty Melbourne Painters 47th Annual Exhibition
1964 Melbourne Contemporary Artists Exhibition
Twenty Melbourne Painters 46th Annual Exhibition
1961 Melbourne Contemporary Artists Exhibition
1957 Melbourne Contemporary Artists Exhibition
1956 5 Contrasts, Contrasts in Contemporary Art, VAS Galleries
1955 Herald Outdoor Art Show
1953 Twenty Melbourne Painters 35th Annual Exhibition
Victorian Artists Society Spring Exhibition
Melbourne Contemporary Artists Exhibition
1952 Victorian Artists Society Spring Exhibition
1951 Victorian Artists Society Autumn Exhibition
Victorian Artists Society Watercolour & Drawing Exhibition
Victorian Artists Society Spring Exhibition
1950 Herald Outdoor Art Show
Victorian Artists Society Autumn Exhibition
Twenty Melbourne Painters 32nd Annual Exhibition
Victorian Artists Society Spring Exhibition
Melbourne Contemporary Artists Exhibition
1949 Twenty Melbourne Painters 31st Annual Exhibition
Melbourne Contemporary Artists Exhibition
Ferntree Gully Arts Society Sixth Annual Exhibition
1948 Twenty Melbourne Painters 30th Annual Exhibition
Victorian Artists Society Autumn Exhibition
Victorian Artists Society Spring Exhibition
1947 Victorian Artists Society Spring Exhibition
1946 Twenty Melbourne Painters 28th Annual Exhibition
1945 Crouch Memorial Art Prize exhibition, Ballarat
Geelong Art Gallery Association Annual Competition exhibition
Earl Coles Prize exhibition
Maurice Nicholas Prize Exhibition
1944 Australian Academy of Art, Sixth Annual Exhibition
Twenty Melbourne Painters 26th Annual Exhibition
Heidelberg Art Show
The Woollies Appeal Children’s Charity Exhibition, Myers Mural Hall
1943 Australian Academy of Art, Fifth Annual Exhibition
Melbourne Contemporary Artists Exhibition
Paintings by Victorian & Tasmanian Artists, Launceston Arts Society
1942 Twenty Melbourne Painters 24th Annual Exhibition
Victorian Artists Society Autumn Exhibition
Second Annual Exhibition of New Paintings by Australian Artists, National Gallery Victoria
1941 Victorian Artists Society Autumn Exhibition
Australian Academy of Art Fourth Annual Exhibition
Twenty Melbourne Painters 23rd Annual Exhibition
First Annual Exhibition of New Paintings by Australian Artists, National Gallery Victoria
1940 Exhibition of Paintings: W.Dargie, P.G Moore, M.Ragles, C.Smith, R,M. Warner & P.Watson.
1939 Victorian Artists Society Autumn Exhibition
Hawthorn Municipal Library Art Exhibition
1938 Swinburne Technical College Student Exhibition
Victorian Artists Society Autumn Exhibition
Victorian Artists Society Spring Exhibition
AWARDS & PRIZES
1944 Winner, Victory Art Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery
Finalist, Wynne Prize
1943, Highly Commended, Crouch Prize, Ballarat
Honourable Mention, Charlotte Allen Memorial Competition, Bendigo Art Gallery
Finalist, Wynne Prize
1942 Finalist, Archibald Prize
Finalist, George Mackay Commemoration Competition, Bendigo Art Gallery
1941 Finalist, Archibald Prize
1940 Finalist, Archibald Prize
COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Australia Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria
Castlemaine Regional Art Gallery
Warrnambool Regional Art Gallery
Private collections in Australia and abroad
