An infamous declaration that there is “no Welsh art” has been firmly rebutted by a groundbreaking exhibition at the country’s national library amid growing calls for a permanent national art gallery for Wales to be created.
More than 250 works from beloved Welsh painters such as Gwen John and Kyffin Williams have been hung alongside pieces by unknown and amateur artists at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth with the aim of telling the narrative of the nation through visual art – and debunking the “no art” myth.
Peter Lord, an art historian, collector and curator of the exhibition, said the “no Welsh art” comment, made in 1950 by Llewelyn Wyn Griffith, the chair of the Welsh committee of the then Arts Council of Great Britain, reflected the received wisdom at the time. He said it was “absurd”, but the impact of the claim still lingered.
Lord began collecting Welsh art in the 1980s, sourcing pieces that told the story of Wales rather than only ones that might be considered high art. He said: “I created my collection because we don’t have a national gallery with a narrative of our own art history. It makes us pretty unique in Europe. Almost every country, even small nations, have a gallery of this kind.”
The exhibition, which runs until September, features 150 of his pieces and another 100 from the library’s collection. “What we tried to do in this exhibition is create a model for a national gallery for historic Welsh art,” Lord said.
Lovers of Williams’ rugged mountain scenes and John’s delicate still lifes will find paintings to enjoy and the Betws-y-Coed artists’ colony, famed for its landscapes of Eryri (Snowdonia), is represented. There is also a Williams portrait of Griffith.
But there are also many pieces that will be new to visitors, created by “ordinary” people such as labourer Thomas Rain from Llanidloes in mid Wales, who engraved pictures and inscriptions on to pieces of slate.
The exhibition does not shy away from flagging up racism in art towards Welsh people, expressed, for example, in caricatures of impoverished people riding on goats.
However, it also shows how some Welsh people chose to adopt the image and celebrate it, as illustrated in a vivid pub sign painted in about 1835 for the Hanner-y-Ffordd Inn in the Conwy Valley, north Wales.
A particularly striking section of the exhibition features three paintings from the depression of the 1930s, including On the Coal Tips by Archie Rhys Griffiths, which depicts women collecting scraps of coal.
There is also a focus on protest art, such as the 1984 picture Tŷ Haf by Peter Davies, an image of a second home burning after an arson attack. “This was a really potent, political painting,” said Lord. “This picture sums up to me what the whole exhibition seeks to do, which is to ask questions about ourselves, about our relationship with other nations and where we go in the future.”
The exhibition includes gems that have rarely been seen before, such as the painting being used in the publicity material, a 1732 self-portrait by Edward Owen, an artist from Anglesey.
It vanished after being shown in Cardiff in 1927 and has resurfaced after a US dealer wondered why there was a Welsh placename on the back – Penrhos.
Others have joined Lord’s call for a national gallery. The Welsh poet John Barnie, from Abergavenny in Monmouthshire, said: “Wales desperately needs its own national gallery. It is the only solution. Without it, our art will remain an unseen treasure.”
The sculptor and blacksmith David Petersen, from Saint Clears in Carmarthenshire, expressed his frustration succinctly in the visitors’ book: “Why has it taken so long to have this fantastic exhibition?”
No Welsh Art runs until 6 September 2025
