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

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

expressionist painter.

Biography

Roberts was born in Ruabon,

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

, the son of a railwayman of the Great Western Railway. The family moved to Neath in Glamorgan 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 , students = 5,765 , undergrad = 4,520 , postgrad = 1,075 , other = 175 FE , city = Swansea , country = Wales, UK , campus = Urban , address = Mount PleasantSwansea SA1 6ED , we ...

under

William Grant Murray William Grant Murray (11 August 1877 – 11 November 1950), usually known as Grant Murray, was a British art teacher, gallery curator and artist. He was Principal of Swansea Art School from 1908 to 1943, and the first curator of the Glynn ...

. 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 on the River Tawe in southwest Powys, Wales. It is the second-largest town in Powys and is in the historic county of Brecknockshire. The town has a high proportion of Welsh language-speakers. The community includes ...

. They shared an appreciation of Expressionism 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. After running two important art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television ...

, 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 ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) 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. ...

, and in 1994 a retrospective exhibition of his work was the centrepiece of the arts exhibit at the National Eisteddfod of Wales. In 1998, the National Library of Wales accepted a donation of 600 drawings from Roberts. He was one of the original members of the arts group '' 56 Group Wales'', 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 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 National Library of Wales 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 Modern painters Members of the 56 Group Wales Welsh male painters {{Wales-artist-stub