Homer Ransford Watson

Homer Watson was one of Canada’s greatest artists. Born in Doon, except for a few years spent abroad, he lived in the village all his life.

He was president of the Royal Academy and a member of the Ontario Society of Artists. He won awards at several international exhibitions and his paintings hang in the National Gallery, the Department of National Defence and the Public Archives, Ottawa and in galleries and private collections around the world, including Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

In 1880, when he was twenty-five, the Marquis of Lorne, Governor General of Canada, and his wife, Princess Louise, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, bought his painting “The Pioneer Mill.” Later they purchased two other paintings. Two were placed in Windsor Castle as part of Queen Victoria’s collection, and the other in Kensington Palace, London.

After his death, Watson’s home became the Doon School of Fine Arts and is now operated as a public art gallery.