BIOGRAPHY OF FREDERICK WATSON
In the 1960’s, Frederick Watson, a fashion illustrator, and artist launched a series of fashion-inspired posters which quickly became hot collector’s items in Toronto. These were dramatic and elegant studies in black and white. His theatre posters have been part of the Toronto scene, and his greatly admired black and white fashion posters, reminiscent of art deco, are now rare. Since then, he has focused more on large canvases in oil, and large decorative works portraying grand elegance.
This has been his greatest love and it continues today. Known for his paintings of glamorous women, fashion illustrations, and theatre and art deco posters, Frederick Watson has been a constant visitor to New York City for more than two decades. He paints women of a bygone era, offering us a glimpse of the life of the ‘femme fatale’. There is a sense of total abandon, freedom, and luxury throughout his collection. One can feel the nostalgia for an era of indulgence and finery, ‘haute couture’, and grand fashion.
In this regard, Frederick Watson’s work is a social witness to history. This combination of whimsy, art deco, sexual allure and sophistication in these charming original oil paintings will beguile you, take you to another time, another world. Watson’s work, now also available as limited edition giclee prints, is a natural for advertising campaigns for luxury goods, not only fashion but also jewelry, champagne, cruise ships and other lifestyle elements of the age of couture.
Inspired by timeless elegance, Frederick Watson is one Fashion Illustrator who doesn’t necessarily draw ideas from fashion at all, but, reminisces the beauty and glamour of days gone by. Days of veiled hats, furs, slinky evening gowns, pearls, jewels, gloves, and pas collections by fashion icons, such as Dior, Givenchy, and Galliano, leap from the canvas of Frederick’s pieces and magically ignite a lifestyle and world that once was; for this world is still very much alive at the tip of this artist’s paintbrush.
His mother’s flamboyant red hair may very well be a precursor to this artist’s career, but Frederick always seems to stumble across beauty and new forms of inspiration in the rarest of places. While on a bus in New York City, he caught a glimpse of a woman walking along Madison Avenue suited in a solid black, knee-length number, topped with a chinchilla hat, diamond brooch, and heels that captured the essence of height…
He jumped off at the next stop just to take a closer look. From tap dancing at Eaton’s Auditorium to horseback riding, bareback, in his rural Canadian hometown, to performing at Museum Theatre in Harlequin; no matter what avenue he chose to pursue at the time, he always knew he was an Artist. Frederick Watson sees life as a painting, with all of its elegance, and has shared beauty through his eyes since 1961, when his first piece was published.
His mentor, Jean Miller, illustrator for the Robert Simpson Co, is the one he credits with getting him started in fashion illustration in 1957. So, call him what you will; fashion illustrator, Artist, real-life impressionist, master of elegance, timeless creator; Frederick Watson is simply a man with an eye for beauty, and a paintbrush that has the ability to transport all of us into a world of glamour and style. In the words of Frederick himself, “Elegance is timeless.”
