British artist Alison Watt (b. 1965) creates monumental paintings depicting richly draped fabric. These canvases show closely cropped folds, gathers, tucks, and creases--all sensuously developed from a selective palette of white, grey, burnt sienna, cadmium red, and yellow. The National Gallery's seventh Associate Artist, Watt has been working in a studio near the permanent collection. This proximity to masterpieces she has long admired has...