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Sir Kyffin Williams RA 1919-2006
Portrait
©
Bernard Mitchell
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Sir Kyffin Williams
OBE, RA, PRCA
1918—2006
Kyffin Williams was born at Llangefni, Anglesey on 9 May 1918. He was educated at Shrewsbury School, which Kyffin always said was a brutal experience. He was subsequently not able to accept a much-wanted commission in the army having been diagnosed with epilepsy. This could have made a lesser man bitter but Sir Kyffin seemed to take it on board with wry stoicism.
He was accepted at the Slade School of Art in 1941, although, with typical self-depreciation, he maintained this was only due to lack of applicants during the war! Kyffin found a home at Highgate School in 1944 where he became Senior Art Master, a position he held for almost thirty years. As he said in his autobiography
“Teaching in a secondary school and painting in isolation, I was able to develop in my own way, free from the pressures of fashion and the contagious influences of art schools.”
The resulting oil paintings of weather beaten farmers, faithful sheepdogs, the Menai Straits, Snowdon, Cnicht, the Moelwyns and Cader Idris ‘sculpted’ with a palette knife have found a resonance with art lovers in Wales and around the world. They seem to embody the untameable power and melancholy present in the landscape, particularly the mountains, of North Wales. Sir Kyffin was also very much inspired by a visit to Patagonia in 1968. Sir Kyffin could turn his hand to watercolours, sketches and printmaking with distinctively strong results. He was passionate that art students should have a thorough grounding in drawing as he frequently told us at Private Views, Lectures, Council Meetings and chats over lunch!
He became President of the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art in Conwy from 1969 - 1976, and again from 1992 until now. Sir Kyffin left Highgate School and returned to Wales in 1974, the same year that he was elected to the Royal Academy.
The Royal Cambrian Academy owes Sir Kyffin a huge debt. He presided over the move from Plas Mawr, a draughty Tudor Mansion in need of restoration, to a purpose-converted chapel next door. He encouraged the ambitious exhibition programme of 9 shows per year featuring historical and contemporary oils, watercolours, prints and sculpture from the best artists in Wales and beyond. He has been a tower of strength, leading without being authoritarian, giving advice with such gentle good humour that one always felt comfortable.
Kyffin was always keen to bring in young artists to the Royal Cambrian Academy, he would search out potential new members and has been instrumental in the careers of many up and coming artists.
We will miss not only his monumental talent and Internationally renowned status but his wonderful stories, often at his own expense, and his passion for art in Wales.
Sir Kyffin Williams OBE, RA, PRCA
1918—2006
Ganwyd Kyffin Williams yn Llangefni, Ynys Mon ar y 9fed o Fai 1918. Fe’i addysgwyd yn Ysgol Amwythig, ble y dywed Kyffin yr oedd yn brofiad creulon. Nid oedd ar ol hynny yn medru derbyn comisiwn yr oedd ei eisiau yn fawr, yn y fyddin wedi darganfod ei fod yn dioddef o epilepsy. Gall hyn fod wedi gwneud dyn llai yn chwerw, ond fe dderbyniodd Syr Kyffin y newyddion a stoiciaeth gwyrgam.
Fe’i derbyniwyd yn y Slade School of Art ym 1941, er gyda’i hunan-ddifeddiant nodweddiadol fe gynhalodd y ffordd hon gan bod cyn lleied wedi ymgeisio yn ystod y rhyfel! Darganfyddod gartref yn Ysgol Highgate ym 1944 ble y bu yn Uwch Feistr Celf, safle a gadwodd am born dri-deg mlynedd. Fel y dyweddodd yn ei hunangofiant
“Dysgu mewn ysgol uwchradd a pheintio mewn unigedd, yr oeddwn yn medru datblygu yn fy ffordd fy hun, yn rhydd o bwysedd ffasiwn a dylanwadau heintus ysgolion celf.”
Roedd y peintiadau olew canlyniadol o ffermwyr hindreuliedig, cwn defaid ffyddlon, Culfor y Fenai, Yr Wyddfa, y Cnicht, y Moelwyn a Chader Idris, a ‘gerfwyd’ a chyllell phalet, wedi darganfod cyseinedd o fewn carwyr celf yng Nghymru ac o amgylch y byd. Maent yn ymweld yn corffori pwer anhrugaredd a lleddf presenol y tirwedd, yn enwedig y mynyddoedd yng Ngogledd Cymru. Roedd Syr Kyffin hefyd wedi’i ddylanwadu’n fawr gan ymweliad a’r Wladfa ym 1968.
Gall Syr Kyffin hefyd droi ei law at ddyfrlliw, roedd brasluniau a phrintiau yn ganlyniadau cryf nodedig. Yr oedd yn angerddol y dylai myfyrwyr celf gael grwnd trylwyr mewn darlunio fel y dywed yn aml mewn Agoriadau Preifat, darlithoedd, cyfafodydd y Cyngor a sgyrsiau dros ginio!
Daeth yn Lywydd o’r Academi Frenhinol Gymreig y Celfyddydau yng Nghonwy o 1969 hyd 1976, ac eto wedyn o 1992 hyd heddiw. Gadawodd Syr Kyffin Ysgol Highgate a dychwelodd i Gymru ym 1974, yr un flwyddyn a’i etholwyd i’r Royal Academy.
Mae’r Academi Frenhniol Gymreig mewn dyled mawr i Syr Kyffin. Fe lywyddodd y symud o Blas Mawr, Plasdy Tuduraidd drafftlud mewn angen adfeirio, i gapel drws nesaf, a drawsnewidwyd yn arbennig. Fe wnaeth annog y rhaglen arddangosfeyff uchelgeisiol o 9 sioe y flwyddyn, sy’n nodweddu gwaith olew hanesyddol a chyfoes, dyfrlliw, printiau a cherflunwaith gan artistiaid gorau Cymru a thu hwnt. Y mae wedi bod yn gryfder hynod, yn arwain heb fod yn awdurdodus, yn rhoi cyngor gyda hiwmor annwyl da fel bod un bob tro yn teimlo’n gyffyrddus.
Yr oedd Kyffin yn awyddus iawn i ddod a artistiaid ifanc i’r Academi Frenhinol Gymreig, yr oedd yn chwilio am aelodau newydd a photensial ac y mae wedi bod yn rhan bwysig yng ngyrfa llawer artist sy’n tyfu mewn clod.
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