Basil Watson, OJ CD (born 1958), [1] is a Jamaican sculptor.
He is the son of painter Barrington Watson, [2] and the brother of sculptor Raymond Watson. [3] He was honoured with the Order of Distinction, Commander Class, in 2016, in recognition of his artistic accomplishments. [4]
Watson completed a sculpture entitled "Balance" in November 2006, which was installed at Doctor's Cave Bathing Club in Montego Bay in honor of the club's centennial. [2] Meant to depict the harmony between man and woman, the sculpture is of a standing nude man with one arm outstretched over his head and an inverted nude woman balancing on one hand, with her hand supported by the man's upraised hand. [2] In total, it is 15 feet tall. [2]
In December of that same year, he completed a statue of sprinter Merlene Ottey, which was installed at Jamaica's National Stadium. [5] The bronze sculpture, which is eight feet tall and weighs seven hundred pounds, depicts a running Ottey reaching for the sky with her right hand. [5] Prime Minister P. J. Patterson presided over the statue's dedication. [5]
Another work of Watson's was added to National Stadium in November 2009, when Prime Minister Bruce Golding unveiled his sculpture of sprinter Herb McKenley. [6] Watson described the task as an "honour" and a "privilege", citing the esteem in which he held McKenley. [6] He said that when designing the work, he drew from multiple images of McKenley created at different times to bridge the gap between McKenley's youthful accomplishments and his popular renown in his old age. [6]
Works by both Basil Watson and his son Kai, a painter, were exhibited in New York at the fifth annual "Art Off the Main" exposition in October 2008, sponsored by the Savacou Gallery. [7]
That December, Watson was added to the list of artists invited to provide works for the National Gallery of Jamaica's National Biennial exhibition. [8]
He was chosen from four finalists to create the United Kingdom's National Windrush Monument, which was unveiled at London Waterloo Station in June 2022. [9] [10]
On August 16, 2024, a statue of John Lewis by Watson was installed in Decatur, Georgia, in the place where an obelisk monument to the Confederacy was put by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1908; the obelisk was removed in 2020. [11]
Nelson's Column is a monument in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, Central London, built to commemorate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's decisive victory at the Battle of Trafalgar over the combined French and Spanish navies, during which he was killed by a French sniper. The monument was constructed between 1840 and 1843 to a design by William Railton at a cost of £47,000. It is a column of the Corinthian order built from Dartmoor granite. The statue of Nelson was carved from Craigleith sandstone by sculptor Edward Hodges Baily. The four bronze lions around its base, designed by Sir Edwin Landseer, were added in 1867.
Floella Karen Yunies Benjamin, Baroness Benjamin, is a Trinidadian-British actress, singer, presenter, author and politician. She is known as presenter of children's programmes such as Play School, Play Away, Jamboree and Fast Forward. On 28 June 2010, Lady Benjamin was introduced to the House of Lords as a life peer nominated by the Liberal Democrats. In 2024, she was honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship award for her services to television.
The Order of Merit is part of the Jamaican honours system, and it is the fourth-highest honour awarded by the nation of Jamaica. The Order of Merit is conferred upon Jamaicans or distinguished citizens of other countries who have achieved international distinction in the field of science, the arts, literature or any other endeavour. The award can be held by no more than 15 living persons. It is not given to more than two people in any one year.
Donald Harcourt De Lue was an American sculptor, best known for his public monuments.
Allen George Newman III was an American sculptor, best known for his statue "The Hiker".
Basil Barrington Watson CD was a Jamaican painter.
The Civil War Memorial, in the DeKalb County county seat of Sycamore, Illinois, United States, is located in front of the DeKalb County Courthouse on a public square. The memorial was erected in 1896 and dedicated in 1897. The structure is a memorial to the thousands of DeKalb County residents who served in the American Civil War. It incorporates an obelisk which rises to 50 feet in height. The base is adorned with copper sculpture, completed by an unknown sculptor. On the east facade of the memorial the word "Antietam", denoting the Battle of Antietam, is misspelled. This work of public art underwent its first restoration work in 2005-2006.
Abraham Lincoln: The Man is a larger-than-life size 12-foot (3.7 m) bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. The original statue is in Lincoln Park in Chicago, and later re-castings of the statue have been given as diplomatic gifts from the United States to the United Kingdom, and to Mexico.
Alexander "Sandy" Stoddart is a Scottish sculptor, who, since 2008, has been the Queen's Sculptor in Ordinary in Scotland and is now the King's Sculptor in Ordinary. He works primarily on figurative sculpture in clay within the neoclassical tradition. Stoddart is best known for his civic monuments, including 10-foot (3.0 m) bronze statues of David Hume and Adam Smith, philosophers during the Scottish Enlightenment, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, and others of James Clerk Maxwell, William Henry Playfair and John Witherspoon. Stoddart says of his own motivation, "My great ambition is to do sculpture for Scotland", primarily through large civic monuments to figures from the country's past.
Christopher Francis González, OD was a Jamaican expressionistic sculptor and painter.
The Musgrave Medal is an annual award by the Institute of Jamaica in recognition of achievement in art, science, and literature. Originally conceived in 1889 and named in memory of Sir Anthony Musgrave, the founder of the Institute and the former Governor of Jamaica who had died the previous year, the medal was the first to be awarded in the Western Hemisphere.
Terrance Kippax Plowright is an Australian artist, based in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. His works include contemporary and figurative sculptures. He has designed and created large public sculptural water features and murals, substantial public cenotaphs, commemorative cast bronze sculptures, and a large body of religious and spiritual work that includes stained glass windows, altars, lecterns, baptismal fonts and mosaics.
Hope Moving Forward is a public monument in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Dedicated in 2021, the monument consists of a bronze statue of Martin Luther King Jr. designed by Basil Watson atop a pedestal. It is located at the intersection of Northside Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
Valda Harris is a Jamaican-British painter, sculptor and writer.
The National Windrush Monument is a bronze sculpture by Basil Watson in Waterloo Station, London. It was unveiled in June 2022 by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. The monument commemorates the British West Indian immigrants who came to the United Kingdom on board HMT Empire Windrush in 1948, who subsequently became known as the Windrush generation. The inscription accompanying the monument lists the members of the Windrush Committee who commissioned the sculpture, and a poem by Laura Serrant, "You Called ... and We Came".