Artist Research

Barrington Watson was a Jamaican artist born in 1931 January 9th in Lucea hanover and died
on 26 January 2016 at the age of 85. I chose to use barrington watson for my artist research
because i admire his work and he have explored the theme im working with “Social issues” in
many of his works.
Barrington Watson made his original mark in Jamaica as a football player for Kingston College.
However, he chose to follow his artistic dreams by enrolling at the Royal College of Art in
London. Watson also studied at Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris and the
Rijksakademie in Amsterdam.[He returned to Jamaica in 1961 and quickly rose to prominence
as a major artist in post-Independence Jamaica. Along with Eugene Hyde and Karl
Parboosingh, he established the Contemporary Jamaican Artists’ Association in 1964 and he
was from 1962 to 1966 the first Director of Studies at the Jamaica School of Art (now part of the
Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts). Barrington chaired the Bank of
Jamaica art collection in the mid-1970s and operated several art galleries: Gallery Barrington,
which has existed in several incarnations since 1974, and the Contemporary Art Centre, which
was active from 1985 to 1998. His home in the parish of St Thomas, Orange Park, is recognized
as a heritage site. It is part of a former coffee plantation and it has since he bought the property
in 1968, served as the location of his main studio and a meeting place for artists and art lovers.
Barrington left Orange Park for the Nation in 1994.

He could be described as an academic realist, however explored a wide range of themes and
genres in his work, including history painting, genre, portraits and self-portraits, nudes, erotica,
the landscape and the still life.Barrington have done several major commissions, including the
mural The Garden Party (1975) and the installation Trust (1975, with Cecil Baugh) at the Bank
of Jamaica, and the mural Our Heritage (1974) at Olympia in Kingston. He executed many
official portraits, including those of past Prime Ministers of Jamaica, of Martin Luther King (1970)
at Spelman College, and of former Commonwealth Secretary-General and UWI Chancellor Sir
Shridath Ramphal at the University of the West Indies – Mona (1992) and Marlborough House
in London (1995). His work is showcase in the National Gallery of Jamaica Collection, with
masterworks such as Mother and Child (1958-59), Washerwomen (1966), Athlete’s Nightmare II
(1966), Conversation (1981) and Fishing Village (1996), and he is featured in many other public,
corporate and private collections in Jamaica and internationally and internationally.Watson’s
history paintings portray those moments in Jamaica’s history that he perceived to be of
particular importance in the move towards and beyond Independence. Clearly, Watson
regarded Independence as an event of the highest historical significance that could only be
honoured by the highest of genres in the tradition of the British Academy, that of history
painting. In so doing, Watson was undisturbed by contemporary trends in the international and
Jamaican art world, but followed the stylistic conventions of those European masters that he
admired.
He receive many major awards during his lifetime in 1957 he receive the British Council
Scholarship
1958-9 – Jamaican Goarship
1960 – German Govevernment Scholrnment Scholarship
1960 – Dutch Government Scholarship
1967 – Special Award, Spanish Biennale – First Barcelona International Exhibition
1971 – Fulbright Professorship, Spelman College, Atlanta, GA
1974 – Gold Medal, Jamaica Festival
1984 – Prime Minister of Jamaica's Award for Excellence
Those are just some of the awards he had received during his lifetime.

Barrington watson is a legend who has contributed significantly to the jamaican art society and
has influenced many jamaican artists to follow their dreams of becoming an artist. .From this
background research i have learn many things about barrington watson and seeing his works
with my own eyes i can truly say he was an amazing artist .

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrington_Watson
https://nationalgalleryofjamaica.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/in-memoriam-barrington-watson/
https://repeatingislands.com/2012/04/06/barrington-watson-as-history-painter/
ttps://nationalgalleryofjamaica.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/in-memoriam-barrington-watson/https
https://i.etsystatic.com/11558546/r

/il/1565e3/1658145127/il_fullxfull.1658145127_k712.jpg
Barrignton Watson
John Canoe dancers

This is an ink drawing in a frame that was done by Barrignton Watson .The drawing was
executed in around the 60s or 70s. The piece was initiated in pencil .The piece is entitled John
Canoe Street band.The drawing depicts five barefooted human like figures in different poses
and constumes.You can see a figure holding a fork in the air with his knee raise high,one
playing a drum , one holding an axe while dancing ,one playing an instruments that looks like a
recorder and one in the background seemingly dressed in a animal headed mask.The artists
mainly used cross hatching and hatching throughout .The artist utilized Thin sketchy lines and
various geometric shape .No color was used.

The work is asymmetrically balanced and movement can be seen through the poses of
the figures which draws my attention from one corner of the artwork to the other.The
focus of the artwork is particularly on the man who is at the front wearing the cylindered
looking hat.
The artwork features traditional john canoe dancers in mascarade outfits.The dance is a
folk dance typically practiced during festivals.I believe barrington did this artwork to
highlight this part of our jamaican history in a simple two dimensional form.
be

Overall I believe this is a fairly good artwork.I believe this artwork could however be
improved by using more shading techniques and other principles of art such as more
contrast between textures and lightning.
Out of many one people
Barrignton Watson
1962

This is a contour drawing done in pencil by barrignton watson in jamaica in the year
1962 depicting women ,men and children.The title of the drawing is Out of many one
people.This drawing was done and later became a painting.In the foreground you can
see a group of children in uniforms and behind them is a lady wearing glasses and
holding a purse on upper arm while placing her on two of the children back to the right
you can see a women staring sideways while holding a purse next to a pole where a
boy is leaning against while holding something under his armpit.To the farthest left of
the foreground you can see a women wearing a headwrap sitting before a oval
shaped object.In the middleground and background we can see people in different
standing positions wearing different clothing .Barrington used the shading techniques
`` Hatching” to show areas of light and darkness and establish a light source that seems
to be coming from the right. and to bring out smooth and curly texture in their hair and
also in the clothing .You can also see different shapes overlapping each other such as
circles ,triangles and rectangles.The focus of the artwork seem to to be those in the
foreground and middle ground because they are more detailed than those in the
background

The drawing shows proportion in the sizes of the adults compared to children .It's also
clear that all are different from each other in the way they dress ,their hair types and
facial features.He used variety in the use of curved lines and straight lines to create the
figures in the artwork .The use of lines and proportion helped to have all the human
figures resembling different ethnicities in his work such as white ,American ,black and
there's even a man who looks chinese , another with hair that looks like the locs of a
rastafarian and a lady wearing a head garment similar to a hijab that indians wear in
their country.

I believe Barrington did this drawing to show how diverse the jamaican people are in
their ethnicities as the title of the artwork states “Out of many one People” which is the
motto of Jamaica.The drawing shows that no matter how different we look or dress from
each other we are still jamaican no matter your ethnicity or religion.

I believe this is a good drawing because even though there is little shading you could
easily identify what the drawing is showing. Another reason I like this drawing is
because of his great use of the space the paper provides and he later went on to create
amazing painting from this same contour drawing.
Garden Party, Barrington Watson
1976
Max resolution: 341x344px
Expression:Painting

In this artwork titled Garden Party done by Barrington Watson was created in 1976 in
Social Realism style .This is an oil on canvas painting that was made in jamaica.
In this painting we can see a group of people of dark complexion. In the middle
ground, I can see two ladies sitting before wooden containers of fruits one with her
hand place on her jaw ;She is wearing a white head wrap and orange dress while the
one on my left who is bigger in size compared to other lady is wearing a big white hat
and a green dress beside those two women there's another woman shrugging her
shoulder upwards with one arm vertically in between her breast.Standing before
those 3 women in the foreground is two men wearing police uniforms only one of
them we are able to see fully and he is holding something in his hand.To the right of
those people listed before there is a man sitting with his back turn away from them in
a light blue shirt and wearing a pants painted in a greenish color .In the background of
this painting we can see two soldiers standing upwards in a poised manner.While
further to the back we can see a group men painted in different gestures. In this
painting I also notice that their is a beautiful tree with colored leaves stretching from
one side of the painting to the next.

Many elements of design were used in this painting.Lines are used everywhere in
order to achieve another element shape .We can the shape of people
 and the form.There is little negative space expressed in the artwork .I can see the
form of the wooden container, The texture of the clothing ,people and the limbs of the
tree.Color is also another element that is very evident in this artwork. The artist used a
variety of split complementary colors like red,purple, green and yellow,orange, purple.

Analyzing this artwork through observation I can see that it explores various principles
of design. I can see and feel the unity of everything being together. Every part of this
artwork seems to belong where it's supposed to .Repetition of colors
yellow,purple,red,and repetition
of objects like the fruit basket. .The balance of this artwork is asymmetrically
balanced .Barrington played along with opposite elements to create contrast while
composing we can see light values vs dark soft texture vs rough because if we looked
closely at the man in the police uniform we can see that he used a dark shade in order
to bring out the rough texture of the man's hand while the uniform and elements are
smooth.The sizes or proportion seem fine however there is man in the background in
white whose proportion seems to be a little bit off.
The ladies of this painting are what stands out the most for me ,I think they are the
main focus of the work.My eyes are attracted to this feature because the colors used
are really attractive and their gestures are interesting. It makes me question myself to
find out the big idea behind this artwork.

This artwork expresses a variety of themes.The soldiers and policemen would

represent discipline and superiority.The two ladies sitting before the basket of fruits
are market vendors for this reason I believe they symbolize entrepreneurship and
determination..The lady in white skirt and no top symbolize purity and innocence .The
men at the back especially the ones who are bending towards the ground represent
downfall and lost.The man in the full white outfit in the background because of the fact
that he is at the back andI I'm unable to see his face it make him seems mysterious and
discreet .

Based on everything observed and interpreted by me , I can finally say that this
painting was done to represent the jamaican society back then at the time barrington
painted this painting The market vendors selling goods and police getting involved to
stop them this is a common problem that we still see in our society today.This is a very
realistic artwork to capture the daily life of jamaicans done by barrington I say so
because the surrounding landscape and people looks life like and not stylized.
 This is really good work.This strongly reflects what's happening In society.I see many
vendors on a daily basis trying to sell their goods and the security force gets involved
in order to stop them.I wouldn't change anything about this if I could. I think barrington
watson worked hard and created a great piece of art.I love each aspect of this artwork
Self Portrait
Barrignton Watson
196

This is a self portrait done in pencil by Barrignton Watson in 1962.This is a self portrait
he did of himself at that period of his life.He used mainly hatching to create textures in
his hair and mustache .The light source is coming left therefore dark areas on his face
is to the right .The portrait shows only his to shoulders.He used value to bring out the
form in his face.

The artwork applied balance and proportion to have accuracy in his drawing.Contrast
was also use as one part of his face is lighter compared to the next.The focus is mainly
on his face and not so much on the other parts of the work. There is little n ,negative
around the subject..The proportions are good as body part liks his eyes, nose and
ears seem to be drawn accurately done his face.

I believe barrington simply just did this work to draw himself .The theme he was problem
working with was probably “Self”.

I believe this is a good work but it has been improved by using darker pencils to have
more value and contrast in his work.
Nude drawing of a Woman
Barrignton Watson

This is a nude drawing of a woman done by barrington once in pencil

and ink the drawing depicts a woman in a sitting position with any form of clothing. The
light source is coming from the right and the main shading techniques used are
blending and hatching.

He mainly used shading techniques ,forms and lines to complete his composition.
The shading techniques help to create textures in the women hair.

This nude drawing could be interpreted in many way however my interpretation is that
the nakedness of the woman is a way to show the female body in a unfiltered way.As a
female showing too much flesh can be seen as unethical and impure however this art is
about having the freedom to express yourself and accepting your body just the way it
is.