George Frederick Watts 1817-1904 Symbolism Painter Review

George Frederick Watts 1817-1904 Symbolism Painter Review

Reviewed by Teresita Blanco

George Frederick Watts was a popular Victorian painter. He was associated with the symbolist movement. He was most famous for his allegorical paintings. He also did a lot of sculptures and designed a memorial garden, or something. Frankly, I prefer his paintings and not all of them, mind you. For our purposes, I will feature his 20 best paintings. These paintings I choose because of subject matter, composition, etc. Who am I kidding, I always chose paintings based on what I like best. Thankfully, for you, my fellow readers I happen to have good tastes. It would not do this blog any good if I liked something pretty bad.

 The first painting shows Selene and Endymion. Like we all know, Selene could only be with her favorite lover, at night. It so happens that he always slept through her visits. What a jerk! Anyhow, what drew me to this painting was the color contrast. The celestial Selene looks like a ghost. Endymion looks submerged in darkness. The only source of light comes from Selene's lunar radiance. this painting shows a contrast between the earthly and the human world. In any case, this pretty little symbolist painting deserves 5 stars rating.

This painting shows a cute girl choosing a flower for her crown. This painting symbolizes the girl's transition to maturity. She currently is choosing what sort of woman she wants to become. The flowers also represent her blossoming into womanhood, as well as spring. It also means that the girl is choosing a mate for herself. I seen like a hundred symbolist paintings that feature a girl smelling the flowers. It was a pretty popular symbol, back in the day. In any case, this beautiful symbolist painting by Watts deserves 5 stars rating.

The above painting shows a romanticized view of Edith Villers. She was a countess of sorts. Most of her husbands ended up dead. Still, that did not keep the men away. She was notoriously beautiful, and the subject of many paintings. For this reason, Watts accepted the commission to paint her profile. He drew from the decorative arts, to paint the rosy background. This beautiful portrait deserves 5 stars rating.

This symbolism painting shows a very depressed Eve. She seems to be melting into the tree of knowledge. This alludes to her inevitable demise. Her blonde hair looks very pretty. It too serves as her robes, for the time being. As it happens, all mankind inherit the original sin, when born of a woman. I guess the guys who created the original sin did not account for cloning, or tube babies. In any case, this beautiful painting by George Frederick Watts deserves 5 stars rating.

This next paining shows a special mirage called fata morgana. This mirage used to be attributed to Morgana la Fey. This mirage had the appearance of castles and cities in the distance. It has a knack for distorting images. Like it happens with most mirages, when you get close enough to the object the image fades away. For this reason, we see this personification of the fata morgana running away from the knight. This beautiful personification gets 5 lovely star ratings.

This next symbolist painting shows a beautiful girl with flowers. Needless to say, she represents spring, youth and the transience of beauty. This subject matter has been popular since the baroque period. In any case, this cutie deserves 5 stars rating.

This painting shows a girl with a peacock feather. The peacock feather represents beauty and immortality. Via this painting, the beauty of the girl will be immortalized. It also represents resurrection. As for the pearl, they represent purity and innocence. Pearls also represent angel tears. They should not be worn by brides because it means that their matrimony will be pretty depressing. This pretty painting by George Frederick Watts deserves 5 stars rating.

 This beautiful painting shows a knight getting kissed by a spirit chick. She represents he guiding star of all the knights. Each and everyone of them has a maiden to come home to. They represent heaven on earth, their hopes and dreams for a better life. Even when she is gone, she somehow remains. This beautiful painting by Watts deserves 5 stars rating.

This painting shows hope. Like we all know, hope stems from the blind belief that things are going to work out, in the end. In her hand, hope has a lyre with a single string. She can only play the same solitary note. Despite her feebleness, her influence spreads across the globe. This blind hope personification deserves 5 stars rating.

This painting shows Zeus as a little kid. He was taken care of by a group of nymphs. Since he was always surrounded by chicks, he developed a problem with monogamy. Each maiden looks as cute as the last. This mythological painting deserves 5 stars rating.

In his painting, we see Jonah. He was a famous prophet from Northern Israel. Unlike most prophets, Jonah chose to flee from his charge. However, a storm came and he got swallowed by a whale. God blackmailed him into doing his will. In this scene, Jonah speaks to the people of Nineveh. He warns them that God is angry, and that the city will be overthrown in 40 days. His warnings are heeded and God spares the city. Symbolic wise, this painting means that mankind cannot fight the will of God. One way or another, God will have his will be done. In any case, this Biblical symbolist painting deserves 5 stars rating.

This painting shows Love and Death. Death advances, overpowering Love. Not even love can stop death. This depressing painting by Watts gets 5 stars rating.

This painting shows the ever elusive Fata Morgana version 2.0. I am not going to dilly dally on the meaning of this painting. I have already explained it. 5 stars for version 2.0.

This painting draws more from impressionism. The entire canvas has the same dull color. Via the white, the background seems energized. It too seems saddened by the death of Eurydice. This depressing painting about the futility of fighting destiny deserves 5 stars rating. Man, I am freezing to death here!!!

This next painting shows a Paolo and Francesca. Watts did wonders with this depressing, ghostly couple. These cuties deserve 5 stars rating.

This painting shows Eve coming into existence. In Watts version, Adam does not make an appearance. Here, she comes to the world as man's equal. It was the fashion of the Victorian Day to reinterpret the Bible to match one's own fancies. This cool looking woman deserves 5 stars rating.

Symbolist had a lot of things in common with Romanticist. Among them, was their obsession with knights in shinning armor. Here, Watts tried to do a realistic depiction of what Sir Galahad might actually look like. The forest too has been painted in a realistic fashion. In any case, this knightly painting deserves 5 stars rating.

This symbolist painting alludes to the last judgement. At the end of time, when everyone has died, we will all be judged. Color coded wise, this trinity looks pretty cool. They all go hand in hand together. Time is never on your side... Brrr! I am freezing. I gotta move from here, pronto. This lovely painting by Watts deserves 5 stars rating.

The next odd couple shows Una and her fellow knight. I think he got turned into a lion or something. I forget. Needless to say, the Red Cross knight should not be giving the googlies eyes to Una. As usual, she belongs to a richer, more powerful man. It certainly sucks that rich old geezers have dips on all the prettiest maidens. In any case, this lovely symbolist painting gets 5 stars rating.

This painting speaks the truth. Most of the time, love cannot be maintained in poverty. When you are about to starve, the last thing you concern yourself with is love. I find it cute how poverty gets personified by Saint Lazaro. He brings with him an aura of death and decay. On this depressing note, I end this long symbolist blog about George Fredrick Watts. I hope you enjoy my silly lil comments.