He was Wales’ defining artist of the 20th Century, but while many of Sir Kyffin Williams’ distinctive works are well known, there are fewer insights into the man himself.
The painter, who died in 2006, aged 88, once joked that “once you’ve seen one of my paintings, you’ve seen the lot”.
A light is to be shed on the man who painted bleak Welsh landscapes.
Letters he wrote to close friends are expected to fetch £7,000 at auction.
They were written to Annwen and Bengy Carey-Evans, and span a period of 20 years towards the end of his life.
In them, he is critical of a lack of a Welsh national gallery, questions how art could flourish in Wales when “people qualify on the golf course” and describe a dislike of controversial exhibitions by Damien Hurst and Tracey Emin.
“He was Wales’ favourite artist,” said auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones.
“He may not have been the critics’ favourite, but does that matter?”
His works that show mountains, valleys, farmland, and the grey skies that often hang over much of Wales, are in galleries across the UK, as well as in a permanent exhibition on Anglesey, which he called home.
Mr Rogers Jones said the letters gave a glimpse into a deep friendship, describing the couple as being “quite paternal” towards Sir Kyffin.
Image source, Rogers Jones Auctioneers
“He was quite vulnerable, he was on his own, he was getting old,” said Mr Rogers Jones.
“He had epilepsy, depression and also the responsibility of being Wales’ best-loved artist on his shoulders.”
As well as discussing his concern about the direction of Welsh art, he also described his upcoming knighthood as his “gonging”.
The letters go up for auction near Cardiff later this month. They are expected to fetch between £5,000 and £7,000.
Image source, Rogers Jones Auctioneers
