Sir Kyffin Williams, R.A.

Acquired from the artist by Henry Paget, 7th Marquess of Anglesey (1922-1913) and Shirley, Marchioness of Anglesey (1924-2017).

Oriel Môn Gallery and Museum, Llangefni, Anglesey, Wales.

An Anglesey-born man himself, Williams remained appreciative and true to its roots throughout his career. After being dismissed from the army due to medical conditions, Williams moved to London and taught art at the Highgate School, before moving back home to Anglesey. Here, he lived on the estate of the Marquess of Anglesey, in a cottage beside Plas Newydd, which he stayed living in for the rest of his live. This was in part due to the fact the Marquess and Marchioness and Williams became great friends, and the couple were patrons and supporters of his work, but also because the estate itself was just by Snowdonia, a great source of inspiration for the artist. The proximity of Kyffin’s cottage (pictured in the lot photos) to the Menai Strait and the mountainous views of Eryri offered fueled Kyffin’s appetite for landscape painting.

Williams was also a writer, and his second autobiography ‘A Wider Sky’ (1991), was dedicated to the Marquess of Anglesey which is testament to their enduring friendship and patronage.

The present work was hung along with other Italian subjects by Kyffin Williams amongst 18th century Italian vedute pictures from the Anglesey collection by the Marquess and Marchioness in their drawing room at Plas Newydd. This created an interesting juxtaposition, particularly with the views from windows across the waters of the Menai Strait to the mountains beyond, subjects more readily associated with the Welsh artists work.