Charles Wyndham Watson (August 30, 1915 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada – April 20, 2002 in Kaneohe, Hawaii), ^[1] was an American sculptor. After working as an apprentice carpenter during the Great Depression, Watson studied engineering briefly at Santa Monica College. ^[2] He came to Hawaii after World War II as a manager for McNeil Construction. In 1950, he moved to Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company as a general superintendent and worked his way up to become president. ^[3] His son Mark Watson is also a Hawaii-based sculptor. ^[4]

His body of work included both figurative subjects and large abstract works, such as Tree in Foster Botanical Garden. His sculptures in public places include: ^[5]

• To the Nth Power, 1971, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Pueo, 1980, Kaimuki High School, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Ka Mea Kuʻi ʻUpena, 1989, intersection of South King Street & Kapiolani Boulevard, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Giraffe (1959) and Ostrich (1960), Honolulu Zoo, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Hawaiian with ʻO ʻO, 1978, Hawaiian Dredging & Construction Company, 614 Kapahulu Avenue, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Mahiole (Feathered helmet), 1983, pair of stone sculptures, The Halekulani Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii
• Tree, 1974, Foster Botanical Garden, Honolulu, Hawaii

References

• Charles W. Watson in the Art Inventories Catalog of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
• Hawaii Artreach, “Art in Public Places”, Vol. 15, Nos. 3 & 4, Winter 2001, p. 13.
• Radford, Georgia & Warren Radford, Sculpture in the Sun: Hawaii's Art for Open Spaces, Honolulu, University Press of Hawaii, 1978, pp. 58, 97.

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