Harry Watrous

Harry Watrous (1857 – 1940)

A native of San Francisco, Harry Watrous is known for stylized figural works, academic portraits, and night scenes.

In 1881, he went to Paris for five years and studied at the Julian Academy and in Bonnat’s atelier. He was influenced by Jean Leon Gerome and William Bouguereau and especially influenced by Jean Louis Meissonier.

His academic genre painting was so popular that a Parisian art dealer marketed it successfully in London as did prestigious American collectors before he returned to this country.

Around 1905, his eyesight began failing, and he became more innovative, specializing in highly seductive, stylized female figure paintings.

Biography from the Archives of AskART