EARLY HOLLYWOOD / LOS ANGELES: 1930s: (3) 16x20 Silver Prints from the Watson Family Archive, Hollywood
These were printed in 1999 from the original GLASS PLATE negatives by master printer Michel Karman in
Los Angeles under the supervision of Delmar Watson. These were printed in conjunction with a "solo" exhibition of the Watson Family Archive at G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, Santa Monica, CA.
A subsequent exhibition entitled
100 Years of Hollywood: The Watson
Family Archive,
was held at
The Getty Gallery, The Los
Angeles County Public Library (630 West Fifth Street) in Downtown LA in 2003.
TWO prints are SIGNED; ONE is not. TWO of the three images are published in Quick, Watson: The Camera: Seventy-Five Years of News Photography: Los Angeles (1975) and Delmar Watson’s Goin’ Hollywood: 1887-1987 (1987).
The Watson Family Archive no longer makes prints of this quality from the original negatives. THESE ARE PERFECT FOR ANY HISTORICAL DISPLAY in a HOME/OFFICE.
Detailed Print Information:
George R. Watson
(1892-1977)
Wilshire Gas, 10 Cents per Gallon, Los Angeles, 1932
Gelatin silver print, printed in 1999 from the original
glass negative
Printed by master printer Michel Karman in Los Angeles under
the supervision of Delmar Watson (1926-2008)
Signed on verso by Delmar Watson (1926-2008), the executor
of the Estate
Image size: 14 x 18 inches
Paper size: 16 x 20 inches
Condition: Excellent, some slight undulation on the edges
from the original drying process
Illustrated: Quick, Watson: The Camera: Seventy-Five Years
of News Photography: Los Angeles; Delmar Watson, 1975, p. 76
Retail: $1500
George R. Watson
(1892-1977)
Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, & Charlie Chaplin, The
Founders of United Artists, Pasadena Train Station, Pasadena, CA, c. 1937
Gelatin silver print, printed in 1999 from the original
glass negative
Printed by master printer Michel Karman in Los Angeles under
the supervision of Delmar Watson (1926-2008)
Unsigned
Image size: 13 7/8 x 18 inches
Paper size: 16 x 20 inches
Illustrated: Delmar Watson’s Goin’ Hollywood: 1887-1987; Delmar
Watson, 1987, p. 135
Condition: Excellent, some slight undulation on the edges
from the original drying process
Retail: $1500
George R. Watson
(1892-1977)
MacMillan Gasoline, Los Angeles, CA, 1930s
Gelatin silver print, printed in 1999 from the original
glass negative
Printed by master printer Michel Karman in Los Angeles under
the supervision of Delmar Watson (1926-2008)
Signed on verso by Delmar Watson (1926-2008), the executor
of the Estate
Estate stamp also on verso
Image size: 15 ¼ x 19 ¼ inchdes
Paper size: 16 x 20 inches
Condition: Overall Excellent; two slight handling marks on the
right edge of image, visible only in raking light; also some edge chiping, ONLY
in the margins and NOT affecting the image; some slight undulation on the edges
from the original drying process
Retail: $1500
The
Watson Family:
The
nine Watson family children, “The First Family of Hollywood,” appeared
collectively in nearly 1,000 silent and classic-era films, and are honored with
a star on Hollywood Boulevard. Their father Coy Watson Sr. was a Hollywood
cowboy and special effects man who among other projects rigged the flying
carpet for Douglas Fairbanks in The
Thief of Bagdad (1924).
As
the family grew, many followed in the footsteps of their uncle, the
photographer, George R. Watson. In less than a century, Los Angeles grew from a
coastal enclave to one of the world’s most influential cities. The Watson
Family of photographers recorded it all – big disasters, small everyday
triumphs, world leaders, petty con men, sports legends and infamous
trials. Across four generations, a Watson photographer (or two) has been
present at most of the significant events in Southern California, and on
occasion through-out the world.
Spanning the entire 20th Century, the exhibition presents more than a
historical chronology. It also illustrates how advances in photo-technology
changed the texture of news photography. The Watson family’s tradition of
technical innovations (dating to the early 1910’s in both the motion picture
and still photography) are highlighted throughout the exhibition.
The Watson’s vintage cameras and historical memorabilia (such as press
passes,event programs, etc,) are also available for exhibition by special
arrangement.
George
R. Watson (1892-1977)
George
received his first camera from his father at age 8, and built a darkroom
out of an old shipping crate. His first newspaper photos were
published in Oregon by the Grants Pass Courier in the early teens where he
scratched out a meager living as a photographer. George was hired as one
of the first staff photographer of the Los Angeles Times in 1917 and covered
the big news stories of the roaring 1020’s; such as, the Parker - Hickman
kidnapping(1927) , the first around the world flight(1924) and is credited with
the first published news photos taken from the air of Los Angeles in
1919. He left the Times in 1929 to manage Pacific+Atlantic
News photos, which became ACME News Pictures, (and later UPI) where he and his
staff covered the 1932 Olympics, transmitted L.A.’s first wire
photo, and documented the major achievements of the golden years of
aviation. George stayed at ACME until 1940 when he retired. As an
inventive young man George created many products and techniques to improve the
photographic equipment and processes of his time. In 1913, he patented a
process that was the forerunner of microfilm, but due to financial difficulties
sold the patent right.
Delmar
Watson– (1926 – 2008)
Delmar
started acting in movies at age 6 months in early westerns with Tom Mix and
George O’Brien, and in the Hal Roach “OUR GANG COMEDIES”. He played Tad
Stanley with Randolph Scott and Shirley Temple in her first feature film, “TO
THE LAST MAN”(1933) and again with Temple as Peter the Goat General in
“HEIDI”(1937). Delmar shot a glass ball out of the hand of WC Fields’
with a slingshot in the classic comedy “YOU CANT CHEAT AN HONEST
MAN”(1939) Delmar learned photography from his father, brothers and worked
at ACME news Pictures before the war. He entered the Coast Guard on his
18th birthday and 6 months later joined his brother Coy’s
photography unit at Long Beach Naval Station until his discharge. He
worked in his brothers’commercial studio and then was hired as a staff
photographer by the Mirror-News, in 1948 . He left the Mirror
ten years later to join the “6 Watson Borthers “ phtography studio
until he opened his own studio in 1967. Delmar has stored the Watson’s
historic collection of photographs, negatives and memorabilia at his Hollywood
office until moving the archive to Glendale in 2007.
Publications & Museum
Collections
The Watson’s Photographs have been published world-wide for close to a century
in newspapers, magazines and books. Watson photographs are held in the
permanent collections of The Getty Museum and The Hollywood Heritage Museum,
and one of George Watson’s original 4x5 cameras is in the permanent collection
of the Newseum in Washington D.C.
Selections from the Family Archive have also been exhibited at Los Angeles
County Museum of Science and Industry (1972), Los Angeles County Public
Library, Getty Gallery (2003), and The Forrest Lawn Los Angeles Museum
(2007). In 1999, the Watson Family received a star on Hollywood’s Walk of
Fame honoring their contributions to the film industry.