Two Figures under a Beech Tree (c. 1905), oil on card, 27.9 x 28 cm., Art Fund, 1976 The Lone Cattle Shed (1894), oil on canvas, 45.7 x 61 cm., presented by Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Jackman, Toronto, in memory of the Honourable Newton W. and Mrs. Nellie (Langford) Rowell, 1977 Landscape with Figures (c. 1906), oil on panel, 16.5 x 24.1 cm., gift of Mrs. B. H. Porteous, London, 1963 Homer Ransford Watson (1855-1936) was born and died in Doon, Ontario. He was basically self-taught but received some early art education at the Notman Studios in Toronto where he was influenced by Lucius O'Brien and Henri Perre. From 1876 to 1877, he visited New York City where he met George Innes and came into contact with the paintings of the Hudson River School. On several occasions, Watson lived briefly in Great Britain and was introduced to artists like Sir George Clausen and James McNeil Whistler. While always returning to Doon, he managed to become one of the leading artists of his generation and played key roles in several exhibiting societies like the Royal Canadian Academy, the Ontario Society of Artists and the Canadian Art Club. Most of his paintings were in oil with genre and landscape subjects in a style similar to the Barbizon and the Hudson River Schools.