Kyffin Williams – Welsh Sheepdog

Kyffin Williams has become the most sought-after and recognisable Welsh artists of the 20th century. Having enjoyed a career spanning six decades Williams began his studies in art in 1941 when he attended the Slade School of art after which he went on to spend many years teaching part time at Highgate school in London. In the time when he was not teaching Kyffin would return to Wales and focus on painting. Focusing primarily on the Welsh landscape Williams never shied away from depicting the raw, grizzled, weather beaten landscapes he saw on a daily basis often adapting his technique to truly capture the strength and power of these scenes. Williams often worked with a palette knife rather than a brush applying thick tactile slabs of paint which truely captured the dramatic Welsh landscape.

This work depicts a farm in Penmynydd Anglesey but also interestingly has another painting on the verso of a fiigure and horse, the ruins of St Dwynwen’s Church and ‘Twr Mawr’ lighthouse on Ynys Llanddwyn (Llanddwyn Island) off the coast of Ynys Mon (Anglesey),

Williams’ works are held in many public collections, including the Government Art Collection, the Arts Council Collection and the National Museum of Wales.