1923-2004 - Robert Watson the man was erudite, candid, sensitive, articulate, and personable and, at times, even flamboyant. But Watson the artist-at-work tended toward reclusiveness and introspection. To view his work is to be challenged by the intimate world he creates. And herein lies the appeals of the painter some erroneously call a surrealist. In fact, he is a precise, disciplined and relentlessly powerful neo-romanticist�a painter intensely bent on luring us into an unnamed territory where riddles are posed for our decoding. The solitary figure, the lonely sanctuary of ruins, the intrigue of a stairway and the awesome infinity of sea and sky all ask questions for us to answer, if and when we can. Robert died peacefully on Dec. 14, at home in Poway, CA after a brief struggle with cancer.