Harry Willson Watrous was an
American artist who received an academic education in France.
His paintings included genre scenes, stylized figural works, landscapes, nocturnes, portraits, and still lifes.
His 1913 painting
The Drop Sinister has been called the first known portrait of an American interracial family.
He is perhaps best known for his enigmatic paintings of sophisticated women, often darkly dressed and seen in profile.
Harry Watrous was born in San Francisco in 1857, the son of Charles and Ruth Willson Watrous.
He had two brothers, Charles 1854-56 and Walter 1860-1903. Harrys father had been a whaler in his youth and made his fortune during the California Gold Rush.