‘The aims of art are not different from the aims of life in general – which should be to add as much as possible to the good of the world.’  - G F Watts OM RA

G F Watts (1817-1904) — outstanding painter, talented sculptor, famed draughtsman and muralist, philanthropic visionary — England's Michelangelo.

Watts 200 is a one-off programme of exciting exhibitions and events celebrating 200 years since the birth of England's greatest Victorian artist.

At the Watts Gallery in Compton, Surrey, U.K., see the most celebrated of Watts's creations in two major exhibitions showcasing his unparalleled portraits, grand Symbolist paintings, works of social realism, sculptures and colossal murals. A thrilling season of music, theatre, conferences and more is planned. 

Highlights include one of the UK's top ten favourite paintings — the iconic Choosing (1864), which portrays Watts's charismatic teenage muse, Ellen Terry — the vibrant Jeanie Senior (1857-58) and the emblematic The Good Samaritan (1850), gifted to the people of Manchester in honour of the great prison reformer Thomas Wright.

Other masterpieces — many of which have never before been exhibited at Watts Gallery — include the prime version of Love and Life (1884), given to the American people by Watts and displayed in the White House, and a newly discovered portrait of Marie Fox (early 1870s), Princess of Liechtenstein and adopted daughter of Watts's great patrons, Lord and Lady Holland.

Hope is one of Watts's most recognized works. As Kathryn Hughes describes it in The Guardian: "The image of a weary, blindfolded figure resolutely plucking at the remaining string of her battered lyre while perched on a ruined globe might not to be to everyone’s taste, but its easily readable symbolism made it fit for repurpose. Martin Luther Kind based a sermon on the painting in 1959, as did Jeremiah Wright a generation later. Among Wright’s Chicago congregation in 1990 was a young Barack Obama who took the image and ran with it, making The Audacity of Hope the title of both his rousing address to the Democratic Convention in 2004 and the bestselling manifesto he published two years later."

Director Perdita Hunt writes:

"This year Watts Gallery Trust celebrates a milestone – the 200th anniversary of its founder's birth on February 23, 1817.

Watts was given the names George Frederic because February 23 was the birthday of George Frederick Handel. Watts's father was a musician.

The rise and fall and rise again of George Frederic Watts, one of the most famous painters of the 19th Century, has been in tune with the artist's prophecy 'I will not be recognised after my death and perhaps not for a further 100 years!'

Today, Watts's time has come. Thanks to the generosity of so many, including lottery players throughout the UK, the Bicentenary coincides with the opening up of the Watts Artists' Village. For today's visitor to Compton, there is now the opportunity to understand Watts in a fuller context – not just as an artist, but as a social reformer, a philanthropist, a man of ideas and a powerful communicator. The exhibitions this year – Monumental Murals, and England's Michelangelo will offer fresh insights into Watts's relentless crusade to communicate through art, to find and explore new artistic genres and to fulfil his role as painter for the nation.

Ptolemy Dean, conservation architect and presenter of BBC Restoration Village said: 'There is something very special about this place, something unique'. In talking about Physical Energy, Watts's monumental sculpture, Antony Gormley observed: 'Watts was an idealist. He had the highest aspirations for art and for his own contribution to it. However, he was an idealist, an idealist who believed absolutely in the power of art to transform life and “art for all" a long time before the arrival of Gilbert and George.'

Our aim in the Watts 200 year is to fulfil Watts's vision of Art for All, and through this to add good to the world offering a powerful and innovative programme, in order to continue our mission at Watts Gallery – Artists' Village to transform people's lives."