Lower Doon in Kitchener in Waterloo Region, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)
Homer Ransford Watson
1855-1936
Photographed by Tim Boyd, April 4, 2025
1. Homer Ransford Watson Marker
An intimate knowledge and love of nature enabled Homer Watson to paint the environs of his birthplace, Doon, with rare sensitivity. Self-taught for the most part, he dignified pioneer motifs through his use of form and composition. In his paintings of the Canadian landscape he attempted to convey an impression of the essence of the nation. A doyen of native artists, he served as founding president of the Canadian Art Club (1907-1911) and as president of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art (1918-1922). The Doon School of Fine Art was established in 1948 as a memorial to Watson.
Son amour de la nature permit à Homer Watson de peindre avec une très grande sensibilité la région de Doon, où il est né. Autodidacte, il utilisa son sens de la forme et de la composition pour retrouver l'âme nationale dans les modes de vie des pionniers du pays. Porte-parole reconnu des peintures canadiens, il fonda le Canadian Art Club en 1907 et présida l'Académie royale canadienne des arts (1918-1922). Cette école fut fondée en son honneur.
Erected 1955 by Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.
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Location. 43° 23.687′ N, 80° 25.121′ W. Marker is in Kitchener, Ontario, in Waterloo Region. It is in Lower Doon. It is on Old Mill Road 0.1 kilometers east of Mill Park Drive, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1754 Old Mill Road, Kitchener ON N2P 1H8, Canada. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Huron-Perth-Waterloo-Wellington Area and in Southwestern Ontario. It is also in Central Canada. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony, the Viceroyalty of New France, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, and Rupert’s Land.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Doon School of Fine Arts 1948-1966 (within shouting distance of this marker);
Photographed by Tim Boyd, April 4, 2025
2. Homer Ransford Watson Marker
Also see . . . Homer Ransford Watson | 1855-1936 (homer Watson history and Archives.
Homer Watson’s interest in the arts was evident at an early age. He made pictures from his food, carved images on fence rails and was constantly sketching. At the age of 11, Watson was gifted a set of watercolour paints and at 15 he received his first set of oil paints. He continued to develop his skills and in the same year he completed his painting Swollen Creek, depicting his sister Phoebe and a young neighbour. Watson explored painting figures in his early works but soon realized his greatest inspiration was the landscapes around him. Predominantly self-taught,(Submitted on April 5, 2025, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario.)Watson copied prints of the old masters in books from his father’s library and later the Ryerson collection at the Toronto Normal School to further develop his skills.circa 18903. Homer Watson ca 1890
1885
4. Homer Watson, “On the River at Doon”, 1885
National Gallery of Canada
Photographed by Tim Boyd, April 4, 2025
5. Homer Ransford Watson House and Gallery, Doon
Credits. This page was last revised on April 5, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 5, 2025, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. This page has been viewed 119 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on April 5, 2025, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
