This exhibition celebrates the life and work of two of Wales’ most distinguished artists who also happen to be husband and wife. 82 year old Gwilym Prichard is Wales’ senior living landscape painter and 80 year old Claudia Williams is one of our finest figurative artists.

Each has had a beautifully illustrated book about their work published this year and they will be signing copies at the exhibition launch. This exhibition sees them return to north Wales where they spent their formative years, and will include many paintings which are illustrated in their respective books.

This is a wonderful opportunity to see work by these critically acclaimed artists and follows very successful shows in Cardiff earlier this year. All the work is for sale.

Gwilym Prichard was born in Llanystumdwy, near Criccieth, in 1931. He trained at Birmingham College of Art, then taught in Anglesey until 1973. He has been a full time artist ever since, and is now the senior figure in Welsh landscape painting and one of Wales’ most admired and successful artists.

He is noted for his dramatic and colourful palette, and for applying the paint thickly and expressively into forms that pare the Welsh landscape down to its essentials. Ceri Richards once said that Gwilym Prichard 'painted the bones beneath the land'. In so doing, he manages to display his joy in the richness and beauty of his native land.

Now settled back in his native Wales once more, Gwilym spent many years living in Brittany, France where he exhibited regularly, and is also widely admired. In 1995 he was awarded the Silver Medal by the French Academy of Arts, Sciences and Letters. He was elected to the Royal Cambrian Academy in 1970, and is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Wales.

Claudia Williams was born in 1933. She is a well-known figure on the Welsh art scene. As a child, Claudia’s gift for draughtsmanship was evident, winning her national prizes and scholarships. At the age of sixteen she attended Chelsea School of Art, where her draughtsmanship was recognised, yet again, with a scholarship. In 1953 she moved to north Wales where, shortly afterwards, she married the artist Gwilym Prichard.

Claudia lived in France for 15 years, where her work is also highly regarded. This led in 1995 to the award of the Silver Medal by the Academy of Arts, Sciences and Letters in Paris, in recognition of her contribution to the arts in France.

Claudia’s paintings and drawings usually reflect the domestic world of children and grandchildren, family gatherings and seaside trips. She has also touched on more controversial issues, notably the drowning of Tryweryn. Her obvious love of the subject matter, allied with a rigorous eye for composition and colour, and the quality of her draughtsmanship combine to produce paintings of great integrity and broad appeal.

She has exhibited widely over the last fifty years, and her work features in many important public and private collections. Claudia was elected to the Royal Cambrian Academy in 1979. She is an Honorary Fellow of Bangor University. A hugely popular retrospective was held at the National Library of Wales in 2000, and an exhibition of her powerful and moving Tryweryn paintings was shown there in 2010. The National Museum Wales acquired her painting 'Mother and Child' in October 2010 for the National Collection.

Oriel Tegfryn Gallery
Cadnant Road, Menai Bridge
Anglesey LL59 5EW United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)12 48715128
tegfryn@artwales.com
www.artwales.com

Opening hours
Monday - Saturday from 10.00am to 5.00pm
Sunday from 11.00am to 4.30pm

Related images

  1. Claudia Williams, Under the Moon, oil on canvas, 2013
  2. Claudia Williams, Bather’s and Fruit, oil on canvas, 1997
  3. Claudia Williams, And That’s your Great Grandfather, oil on canvas, 2009