Peter Watson (arts benefactor)

Victor William (Peter) Watson (September 14 1908 – May 3 1956) was a wealthy English art collector and benefactor. He funded the literary magazine, "Horizon", edited by Cyril Connolly.

Life and work

Peter Watson was the son of William George Watson, later Sir George Watson and was the youngest of three children - his brother Norman was born in 1897 and sister Florence in 1894. He was educated at Eton College and Oxford University. Watson was an avid art collector acquiring works by such artists Miro, Klee, and Pablo Picasso, which were displayed in his Paris apartment in the 1930s. He was the principle benefactor of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and also provided financial assistance to English painter Francis Bacon. In 1930, society photographer, artist and set designer Sir Cecil Beaton began a lifelong obsession with Watson, though the two never became lovers. One chapter from Hugo Vickers' authorized biography of Cecil Beaton is titled "I Love You, Mr. Watson".

In 1940 Watson provided funding for Cyril Connolly's Horizon and became its arts editor. Stephen Spender was also involved with the magazine initially. Watson was also art editor for the magazine during its existence from 1940 to 1949. Spender recalled to Connolly's biographer, Clive Fisher, that Watson hated "priggishness, pomposity and almost everything to do with public life," and he suspected that he had educated himself "through a love of beautiful works and of people in whom he saw beauty ...". He added "When I think of him then, I think of his clothes, which were beautiful, his general neatness and cleanness, which seemed almost those of a handsome young Bostonian." [Clive Fisher "Cyril Connolly: A Nostalgic Life"]

Fisher writes that Peter Watson "was a figure of striking attractivenss; women in particular seem to have found his manners irresistible... almost everyone appears to have liked him." One of Watson's lovers was American male prostitute and socialite Denham Fouts, whom he continued to support even after they separated as a result of Fouts' drug addiction

Watson was found mysteriously drowned in his bath on May 3 1956. Some have suggested that he was murdered by his young American lover, Norman Fowler [Hugo Vickers "Cecil Beaton" 1985 Weidenfield & Nicholson] (from whom Bacon stole £300 to go gambling)Fact|date=February 2007. Fowler inherited the bulk of Watson's estate and died 14 years later in the West Indies; he was also found drowned in his bathtub.Fact|date=April 2008

Watson's sister Florence Nagle, fought a prolonged battle against Britain's Jockey Club, the controlling body for horse racing. His brother Norman provided funding for the early development of Lake Louise, a ski resort in Alberta, Canada.

Notes and references