Will Roberts (21 December 1907 – 11 March 2000) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

expressionist

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Biography

Roberts was born in

Ruabon Ruabon (; ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough, with city status in the United Kingdom, city status, in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. I ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

, the son of a railwayman of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

. The family moved to

Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

in 1918. His gift for drawing was apparent from early on and, as a part-time student for four years from 1928, Roberts took classes at Swansea Art School under William Grant Murray. In 1945, he met the Polish artist

Josef Herman Josef Herman (3 January 1911 – 19 February 2000), was a highly regarded Polish-British painter who influenced contemporary art, particularly in the United Kingdom. He was part of a generation of central and eastern European Jewish refuge ...

. At that time, Herman was living in the neighbouring town of

Ystradgynlais Ystradgynlais (; ) is a town in southwest Powys, Wales. It is located on the River Tawe, and was within the boundaries of the former county of Brecknockshire. The town has a high proportion of Welsh language-speakers. The community includes C ...

. They shared an appreciation of

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

and often painted together. Later, Roberts was to acknowledge Herman's influence on his work. Roberts found inspiration in the local community, painting industrial workers and farmers, and domestic scenes of family life. Some of Roberts' most striking works are of Welsh landscapes and he is now widely acknowledged as one of Wales's modern masters. In 1962, Roberts won the Byng-Stamper Prize for landscape painting, judged by Sir

Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director and broadcaster. His expertise covered a wide range of artists and periods, but he is particularly associated with Italian Renaissa ...

, for ''Farm at Cimla'' which was acquired by the

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. In 1992, he was awarded an honorary Fellowship by

University College, Swansea Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

, and in 1994 a retrospective exhibition of his work was the centrepiece of the arts exhibit at the

National Eisteddfod of Wales The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...

. In 1998, the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...

accepted a donation of 600 drawings from Roberts. He was one of the original members of the arts group ''

56 Group Wales The 56 Group Wales () is an artists' organisation founded in Wales in 1956, with the aim of promoting Welsh Modernist art and artists. The name was originally simply the 56 Group: "Wales" was added in 1967, in response to a feeling that the org ...

'', which set out to raise the profile of modern Welsh art. Roberts died in Neath, where his 24 charcoal drawings of the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

may be seen in St David's Church. Another of his works, ''The Three Magi'', is on the choir vestry wall. A memorial exhibition of drawings and some paintings was shown at the

in 2001.

References

Bibliography

* "Will Roberts – A Retrospective 1927–1992", (Oriel Mostyn Llandudno, 1993) * Joyner, P: "Will Roberts RCA Drawings", (National Library of Wales, 2001)

External links

The Official Will Roberts website
* ttp://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/art/online/?action=show_item&item=1572 'Farm at Cimla' (1962), National Museum of Walesbr>Will Roberts
at welshart.net * 1907 births 2000 deaths People from Ruabon 20th-century Welsh painters 20th-century Welsh male artists British modern painters Members of the 56 Group Wales Welsh male painters {{Wales-artist-stub