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Barrington Watson
Huge topical Black History slavery painting Jamaica Morant Bay 1865 rebellion

circa 1964

$12,000
£8,969.96
€10,479.58
CA$16,880.84
A$17,084.71
CHF 9,795.90
MX$207,216.28
NOK 113,922.40
SEK 115,962
DKK 78,338.66

About the Item

Uprising - a huge and incredibly powerful and topical painting by Jamaican master painter Barrington Watson (1931-2016). It depicts the 1865 Morant Bay rebellion, where Jamaicans were protesting injustice and widespread poverty. Most freedmen/former slaves were prevented from voting by high poll taxes, and their living conditions had worsened following crop damage by floods, cholera and smallpox epidemics, and a long drought. Born in Hanover, Jamaica, in 1931, Professor the Honourable Barrington Watson, OJ, was educated at London’s Royal College of Art, attended the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris and the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam. Returning to Jamaica in 1961, he quickly became one of the most influential post-Independence artistic figures. Our painting by Watson is a study for the important early work “Battle of Morant Bay” (painted 1964), in the collection of the National Gallery of Jamaica, about which art historian Claudia Hucke writes in an exhibition catalogue of “Barrington; a Retrospective” (National Gallery of Jamaica, 2012): “(…) Watson’s work captures the moment when rebels storm the Morant Bay courthouse. Slain bodies lie on the ground in front of the courthouse and on the stairs leading to the upper floor. Men in the heat of combat carrying machetes, torches and rifles attack the officials, some of whom are trying to escape into the building, hurriedly running up the steps and through the door on the ground floor. A market woman on the right is screaming in horror. ‘The Morant Bay Rebellion’ is carefully composed, descriptive and emotionally detached as the posture of most of the figures is somewhat strained and both rebels and officials display at times overly dramatic expressions. Watson here employs the heightened emotions and grand gestures of traditional history painting, but chose not to include an image of Paul Bogle in his painting “because, according to my research, he was not at the courthouse on the day of the rebellion. His brother, however, is the man holding the torch.” Our impressive artwork is monogrammed at the lower right. Painted by Barrington Watson's during his time in England, it is presented in its original frame James Bourlet & Sons Ltd, carvers and gilders, picture framemakers, fine art packers and exhibition agents. The size of the painting excluding the frame is just over 30 x 40 inches.
  • Creator:
    Barrington Watson (1931 - 2016)
  • Creation Year:
    circa 1964
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 37.01 in (94 cm)Width: 46.86 in (119 cm)Depth: 1.97 in (5 cm)
  • Medium:
    Masonite,Oil
  • Movement & Style:
    Realist
  • Period:
    1960-1969
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Norwich, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU99136879272

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