George Fiddes Watt (1873-1960)

George Fiddes Watt (1873-1960) was a Scottish portrait painter and engraver, born in Aberdeen. Watt studied art at Gray's School of Art, Edinburgh and the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh. He was elected to the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in 1924 and received an honorary LL.D. degree from the University of Aberdeen in 1955. Watt was sculpted by Henry Snell Gamley in 1912, Watt's son Albert having been sculpted by Gamley four years previously. A bronze statue of Watt by Thomas Bayliss Huxley-Jones, made in 1942, is in Aberdeen. Watt's large output includes paintings of many of the famous people of his time in Britain. An exception among the many portraits is a landscape, J. P. Inverarity Mauled by a Lioness, Somaliland.

Portraits. Lawyers:Viscount Haldane (Lincoln's Inn), Viscount Reading (Middle Temple). Scientists: Sir J. J. Thomson (Royal Society). Politicians: H.H. Asquith, A.J. Balfour (National Portrait Gallery),Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon. Academics:Thomas Martin Lindsay. Mezzotint engravings: Robert Bannatyne Finlay (Royal Courts of Justice).   
                  
Collections and exhibitions: Watt's work was exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1906 to 1930. His portrait of his mother is in the Tate Gallery's collection.

Exhibited: Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts 26, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool 16, Royal Society of Portrait Painters 45, Royal Academy London 32, Royal Scottish Academy 99.