Amelia Montague Watson (American, 1856-1934), In the Foothills

Watercolor on paper, 1934, signed at lower left, retaining gallery label to verso, presented in a gilt frame below glass.

Sheet sight 12 1/2 x 10 in.; Frame dimensions 21 5/8 x 19 in.

From the Collection of Mr. Jonathan P. Alcott, Raleigh, North Carolina

Amelia Montague Watson is well known for her associations with Martha’s Vinyard and Tryon, North Carolina. Born in East Windsor, Connecticut, she learned painting from her mother at an early age. Later, studied in Hartford with Dwight Tryon. Watson became a teacher of the arts, especially of women. She was a faculty member of Temple Grove Seminary in Saratoga Springs, New York, the Hartford Art School, and Martha’s Vineyard Summer Institute, where she taught from 1878 to 1902. The actor and playwright, William Gillette was a major patron of her work. He invited Watson to visit him in Tryon, North Carolina, where, soon, she began to spend winters amidst the emerging art colony with painters such as Lawrence Mazzanovich, Homer Ellerston, and George Aid. Around 1914, she built a studio and residence called Under the Tupelo.

During her career, Watson illustrated several books including Henry David Thoreau’s classic travelogue, Cape Cod (1865), and The Carolina Mountains by her longtime friend Margaret Morley. The financial fallout from the Great Depression forced Watson to sell her home in Tryon; she moved to Florida where she continued to paint until her death in 1934.

Very good condition, not examined outside the frame.