THE ART OF CATHERINE WATSON
A chance sighting on the BBC Antiques Roadshow inspired us to find out more about Catherine Watson and her artistic background. Her stunning oil painting creates a vivid impression of working life at North Berwick harbour:
Untitled. Woman baiting the ‘sma’ lines, North Berwick Harbour. Oil on Canvas. Catherine Watson 1869-1889.
© Dr Chris Bennett
Catherine Watson was born on 17 November 1869, the third daughter of Henry Watson, a shipping merchant and Catherine Watson of 8 Victoria Crescent, Dowanhill, Glasgow. She attended The Glasgow School of Art from 1885 until her untimely death in 1889. She won prizes in national and local competitions, winning a first class award for life drawing. During her time there she was listed as a student and latterly as a teacher.
The subject of Kate’s painting is wearing an ‘Ugli’ hat. These were handmade and protected against sun and wind. Baiting the ‘sma’ lines was time consuming work, usually carried out by female members of the household before the fishing boats set sail. Mussels were meticulously fixed to up to 1200 hooks attached to lengths of rope. Once the bait was attached to the hooks, they would be laid in rows inside a ‘scull’ between layers of grass to avoid tangling:
Mary Kelly (née Thompson), Herriot Place c.1900 © ELMS.
Elizabeth Kelly, Lower Quay c.1920 © Karen Kelly.
The Kelly family fished in North Berwick for generations, originally coming from Canty Bay. Mary Kelly and her daughter Elizabeth Kelly are pictured in different decades baiting the fishing lines at the same location in the Lower Quay as Kate’s painting, unchanged and still recognisable today. The family lived in Herriot Place, later renamed Victoria Road. As the fishing industry declined and the tourist population in North Berwick grew, George Kelly and his brothers would often take tourists out for fishing trips on their boat, the ‘Julia’.
George Kelly and Tourist, c.1900 © ELMS.
North Berwick Harbour Scene c. 1900 © ELMS
Scottish artists and designers in the late nineteenth century began looking to Europe for their inspiration. The Glasgow Style was influenced by European Art Nouveau and many young Scottish artists were inspired to represent scenes of everyday life.
Bronze relief panel designed by Gertrude Isaacs, 1889.
Glasgow’s reputation as a wealthy, industrial powerhouse was well established by the end of the nineteenth century and it was an important hub for trade and manufacturing. The Glasgow International Exhibition of Science, Art and Industry in 1888 sought to draw international attention to the city’s achievements in applied sciences, industry and the arts. Under the leadership of Francis Newbery, an artist and progressive educator who championed female artists and encouraged their attendance at the school, The Glasgow School of Art and its students were beginning to gain worldwide recognition.
Student contemporaries of Kate’s included the renowned architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Jessie Keppie, artist and suffragist. Both were leading proponents of The Glasgow Style. Kate’s decorated leather portfolio is an example of The Glasgow Style.
A bronze relief panel designed in The Glasgow Style by Gertrude Isaacs, a friend and fellow student from the School of Art is positioned in the lower section of Kate’s memorial cross.
Leather Portfolio, Catherine Watson 1869-1889 © Dr Chris Bennett.
A French artist Jules Bastien-Lepage, who painted in a naturalistic style, influenced Scottish artists including The Glasgow Boys and William Marshall Brown (we have a print of his painting ‘Hoeing in the Fields’ in the museum). They painted ordinary life in an honest, realistic and unaffected way. These Scottish artists and The Glasgow International Exhibition may have inspired Kate.
Examples of Kate’s sketches and etchings show her interest in domestic and harbour life:
Untitled. Pencil on Paper. Catherine Watson 1869-1889 © Dr Chris Bennett
Untitled, 1888. Etching. Catherine Watson 1869-1889 © Dr Chris Bennett