Alison Watt – interview: ‘I have spent my whole life working from life, so to work from death was a different experience’

The Scottish artist’s astounding trompe l’oeil still lifes of artefacts inspired by the life and times of Sir John Soane integrate into the architecture of Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, creating an engaging 18th-century Gesamtkunstwerk

Alison Watt (b1965, Greenock) may still be best remembered for her monumental portrait of the Queen Mother, a commission she received on winning the John Player Portrait Award in 1987, while still a student at Glasgow School of Art. But in the four decades since then, her practice has evolved and matured, and the artist now produces astounding tromp l’oeil still lifes, zooming in on single details, such as an open book, a cup and saucer, or the fold of a tablecloth.

Alison Watt, Glanville, 2020-22. Oil on canvas, 122.9 × 122.2 cm. Courtesy and copyright the artist.

Watt, who received an OBE in 2008, is the daughter of James Watt, the renowned maritime artist and a co-founder of the Glasgow Group, and she knows the value of her heritage. “Every body of work I have made has sprung from spending long periods of time looking at historical painting,” she says. Watt once heard this act of immersing oneself in the art of one’s forebears described as “the sinuous garland”, which, she says: “I really like, because when I think of that term, I think of a long and winding road, which is exactly how I feel about painting itself. As a medium, painting will always evolve, but there are certain things about it that haven’t changed for centuries.”

Alison Watt: From Light, installation view, Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, London, 5 March – 15 June 2025. Photo: Andy Stagg.

For her exhibition at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, Watts has looked back at the life and work of the architect Sir John Soane, who designed the venue, as well as his house (now Sir John Soane’s Museum) in Lincoln’s Inn, where Watts also went for inspiration. For example, a series of three paintings of Oliver Cromwell’s death mask is inspired by a cast in Soane’s collection, originally believed to be of the mutineer sea captain Richard Parker. Watt’s decision to make this into a triptych references Anthony van Dyck’s Triple Portrait of Charles I (1635-36) – the king whose death warrant Cromwell signed. Hung in a small side gallery, and superbly lit, the masks almost demand to be touched (please don’t!) to prove they are not real. Such is the brilliance and skill of the artist.

Alison Watt: From Light, installation view, Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, London, 5 March – 15 June 2025. Photo: Andy Stagg.

Watt’s stunning paintings of fabric, folded and draped, are a continuation of a longstanding interest. Superficially white, closeup these paintings comprise a spectrum of carefully applied and layered colours and capture a sense of movement, on the boundary between figuration and abstraction. Another liminal area explored in the exhibition is the place between life and death, captured exquisitely in a series of a dying and decaying rose. This references Soane’s particular fascination with these processes, as well as creating a memento mori and reminder of the briefness of our earthly lives.

Watt spoke to Studio International in the gallery just before the exhibition opened.

Alison Watt: From Light
Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, London
5 March – 15 June 2025

Interview by ANNA McNAY
Filmed by MARTIN KENNEDY