Paintings and pen and ink sketches by a renowned Welsh artist – discovered in a Midlands house – and could sell for up to £50,000 at auction.
The works, by Kyffin Williams, a man widely regarded as the defining artist of Wales during the 20th century, were found at a house in Burton-on-Trent, Staffs.
Such is his importance in the art world, two of the newly-discovered oil paintings have been valued at £14,000-£18,000 each. One, signed with initials, depicts a rustic cottage with mountains beyond. The other shows a mountainous landscape with storm clouds brewing.
The Welsh art treasures, which are due to go under the hammer in Hansons Auctioneers’ Country House Antiques Auction on August 17, also include two pen and ink wash pictures. One captures two rustic cottages, signed with initials, estimate £1,000-£1,500. The other, of a stone bridge with two cottages, has an indistinct title thought to say LLandoa. It is signed with initials and has an estimate of £1,000-£1,500.
The paintings were uncovered by Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, during a routine house visit at a property in the famous brewing town of Burton which is near the firm’s Derbyshire headquarters.
He said: “It turns out the lady and gentleman who acquired the paintings in 1961, direct from the studio of Kyffin Williams, were good friends with the artist before he was famous. Apparently, they used to borrow paintings from his studio for a month or so and then exchange them for another one.
“They originally lived in London but moved to Staffordshire in the 1960s. A diary from 1961 provides all-important provenance. This is a truly wonderful find. It would be nice to think these works of art might make the journey back home to Wales. We already have strong interest from prospective buyers.”
Williams is renowned for rugged landscapes of his beloved North Wales and for his use of a palette knife. Born in Llangefni, Anglesey in 1918, he later contracted polio encephalitis which led him to develop epilepsy. This led to him failing a British Army medical in 1941 which allowed him to pursue his art.
He enrolled at London’s Slade School of Fine Art in 1941, gaining prizes for portraiture, and went on to teach art at Highgate School, London. He was senior art master from 1944 until 1973. On retirement, Williams returned to Anglesey and spent the next 30 years painting, and promoting Welsh schools of Art and Welsh art in general. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1974 and knighted in 1999.
He never married and died in 2006, aged 88, at St Tysilio Nursing Home, Anglesey. Welsh singer and Manic Street Preachers frontman James Dean Bradfield included a track called ‘Which Way to Kyffin’, dedicated to Williams, on his album The Great Western.
The artworks by Kyffin Williams are due to be sold on August 17 in Hansons Auctioneers’ August 16-18 Country House Antiques Auction at Bishton Hall, Staffordshire. Catalogue: www.hansonslive.co.uk. To find out more, email [email protected]
Click here to view the lotshttps://hansonslive.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk/m/view-auctions/catalog/id/180?page=1&view=list&key=kyffin&sale=undefined&catm=any&order=order_num&xclosed=no&featured=no
“>Click here to view the lots
