Victorian philanthropy examined in restored gallery of artist and philanthropist GF Watts

By: 

Cheryl Chapman

Managing Editor, Philanthropy UK

Victorian philanthropy will be re-examined at a symposium being held at the recently re-opened Watts Gallery that was restored with £11m worth of donations to its ‘Hope Appeal’ from groups and individuals including The Heritage Lottery Fund and trusts local to the Surrey gallery.

The appeal, is named after Hope, the iconic image painted by social activist and philanthropist George Frederic Watts, who was considered the greatest painter of the Victorian age.

It has paid for the four year faithful restoration of the striking 1904 gallery as well as outreach work with young offenders and Send Women’s prison.

Dr Helen Bowcock, author of Hidden Surrey that highlights the deprivation that exists in pockets of the well-heeled county, who is a supporter of the gallery will be presenting at the symposium. She explains there are many echoes of Watt’s own philanthropy in philanthropy of today.

“The re-opening of the Watts Gallery earlier this year is symbolic not only of a renewed interest in the art of GF Watts and his wife, Mary, but also of the philanthropy that characterised their lives and work,” says Dr Bowcock.

Her paper reflects upon the way in which they strived for public good and asks what lessons a contemporary philanthropist can draw from their achievements. “In particular it comments on their entrepreneurship, on their use of art and craft as a transformative experience and on their engagement with the local community in Compton. It draws attention to the richness of art and philanthropy in this area of Surrey in the late nineteenth century, suggesting that the reasons why Watts’s popularity collapsed, parallel the reasons why philanthropy itself fell from grace.

“If, today, we are experiencing a revival in private giving, it highlights the importance of supporting those arts institutions that reach out and transform lives. Referring to the paradox highlighted in the Hidden Surrey report that this wealthy area is in great need of private donations, it suggests that local arts and culture were impoverished by the decline of philanthropy. But the restoration of this beautiful gallery gives us reason to revisit the meaning of nineteenth century values in a twenty first century context,” she says.

The artists’ vision for Compton was philanthropic in motivation, beginning with the Chapel.   This was the brainchild of Mary Watts, who recognised that employment opportunities were increasingly limited for this community and that training in traditional craft skills could open up doors.  Mary converted the billiards room in the family’s home, Limnerslease, and from here trained 73 Compton villagers in terracotta modelling.  This culminated in the creation of the incredible Watts Cemetery Chapel .

Galvanised by the project, Mary then worked with the villagers to establish a pottery co-operative in Compton.  In its heyday, the Compton Potters’ Arts Guild had contracts with Liberty & Co and received commissions from a number of illustrious architects, including Lutyens and Clough Williams-Ellis for Portmeirion.  It provided employment in the village until 1956.

To further support the Guild, the Wattses built accommodation for the potters in the village and also adjoining Watts Gallery, which opened its doors to the public in 1904 shortly before Watts’s death.  Watts Gallery, following major bequests to Tate and the National Portrait Galleries, was a gift to the nation.  

The artist’s Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice, in Postman’s Park in London, is a further demonstration of the philanthropic ethos shared by both artists throughout their lives.

The Watts Gallery Trust continues to support the ‘Art for All’ ethos of its founders, through life-changing outreach and education work with excluded groups.

The symposium will take place on November 14^th. Nicholas Ferguson, chairman of the Courtauld Institute of Art and Institute for Philanthropy will chair the symposium and among the papers being  presented are:

 Art for All – Philanthropy in the 19th Century, by Mark Bills, curator of Watts Gallery

The Wattses’ conception of Art as a life-changing experience, by Helen Hienkens-Lewis, head of learning, Watts Gallery

Philanthropy in Action,  by David Verey CBE, chairman of The Art Fund, trustee of the Pilgrim Trust, lead non- executive director, Department of Culture, Media and Support.

There will also be a panel discussion on Philanthropy and the Arts in the 21st Century.

To find out more visit the Watts Gallery website.