Alison Watt (Scottish painter) facts for kids
Alison Watt is a famous British painter born in 1965. She first became well-known when she was still in college. In 1987, she won a big art award called the Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
About Alison Watt
Alison Watt was born in Greenock, Scotland. She studied art at the Glasgow School of Art and finished her studies in 1988. While she was a student, she won the John Player Portrait Award in 1987. Because of this, she was asked to paint a portrait of The Queen Mother.
Her early paintings were often of people, especially women, in bright rooms. These paintings looked very real. In 1997, she had an exhibition called Fold in Edinburgh. In this show, she started to include fabric in her paintings alongside figures. This showed her interest in older painters and also hinted at her moving towards more abstract art. Abstract art uses shapes, colors, and forms instead of showing things exactly as they look.
In 2000, Alison Watt was the youngest artist to have a major solo exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Her show, called Shift, featured 12 very large paintings that only showed fabric. In 2003, she was considered for The Jerwood Painting Prize.
Watt also showed her art during the 2004 Edinburgh Festival. She placed a huge 12-foot painting called Still in a special chapel at Old St Paul's Church. She won an award for this painting in 2005.
From 2006 to 2008, Alison Watt was a special artist at the National Gallery, London. She spent time there and became very interested in one painting: St. Francis in Meditation by Zurbaran. The art she created during this time was shown in her own exhibition called 'Phantom' in 2008. In the same year, she received an award called the OBE for her contributions to art.
Alison Watt's paintings have been shown in many places. Her art is kept in important public collections. These include the National Portrait Gallery in London, Glasgow Museums, and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. In 2012, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery bought her Self-portrait painting from her own collection. This was to celebrate the gallery reopening after being updated.
In 2017, Watt became a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh. This is a special honor for people who have achieved a lot in their field.
Between July 2021 and January 2022, Watt had an exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Another exhibition, 'A Portrait without Likeness', was shown at the Inverness Museum and Art Gallery from January to April 2022.
Her Artworks
Alison Watt's Self-portrait from 1986–87 was painted when she was still a student. She was feeling unwell at the time. The painting shows her hand on her forehead, as if she is checking her temperature. Watt has not painted many portraits since her early career. This painting was given to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery when it reopened in 2011.
Her painting Pears is from the 1990s. During this time, Watt often painted very realistic figures on draped fabric. The person in Pears was a model she painted often back then.
Later, she changed her focus. Instead of painting people, she started to paint the fabric itself. These paintings often show folds and textures of cloth, exploring light and shadow.
Exhibitions
Alison Watt has had many solo exhibitions where only her work is shown:
- 'Phantom' at the National Gallery, London, UK (March 12 – June 22, 2008)
- 'Alison Watt: The Sun Never Knew How Wonderful It Was' at Parafin Gallery, London, UK (March 17 – May 7, 2016)
- 'Alison Watt: A Shadow on the Blind' at Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, UK (late 2018)
- 'A Shadow on the Blind' at Parafin Gallery, London, UK (May 24 – July 13, 2019)
- 'A Portrait Without Likeness' at Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, UK (July 17, 2021 – January 9, 2022)
- 'From Light' at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, London, UK (March 5 – June 1, 2025)
