Internationally renowned Australian artist Ross Watson has developed a distinctive style of contemporary realist painting, and his highly collectable work have been included in the collections of; Sir Elton John, The Australian National Gallery, The President of the World Bank, and Lord Cholmondeley.

Watson was born in 1962 and has exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions since 1984, including important surveys of Australian and international contemporary art at the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria , and in the Toronto International Art Fair.

Over his 25-year career, Watson has made his name with "erotically charged" depictions of a host of male beauties.

"I am drawn to painting who I find attractive [but] if you ask any artist, whether it’s Rubens or Hockney, they’ve only ever painted models that they’re attracted to," Watson said in an interview with the Sydeny Star Observer.

"[But] in more recent years, feeling and emotion have been the important things.

"You can see that in the paintings from the last years. In many of them, it’s about the emotional state of the model and the whole feel of the painting."

In recent works, Watson has blended reality and fantasy, contrasting contemporary models with classical figures by the likes of Caravaggio and Vermeer.

"The classical reference might be one of Vermeer’s women reading a letter and [the viewer] thinking, ‘How is she feeling? What is the content of that letter? What has she just learnt?’

"My contemporary model is often mirroring the apparent emotional state of the classical figure."

Where to find out more: RossWatson.com

© Ross Watson. Pictures used with permission.