The Welsh Group Explained

The Welsh Group
Size:200px
Formation:1948
Type:Visual arts
Location:Wales
Membership:~40
Website:www.thewelshgroup-art.com

The Welsh Group (Welsh: Y Grŵp Cymreig) is an artists' collective, with the purpose of exhibiting and "giving a voice" to the visual arts in Wales.[1]

Beginnings

The group began in 1948 as the South Wales Group, consisting of both professional and amateur artists.[2] [3] [4] [5] The group's initial conception was a response to the Royal Cambrian Academy's relatively weak representation from south Wales at that time.[6] In the foreword to the South Wales Group’s first exhibition catalogue, David Bell wrote "It is the purpose of the Group to establish a new link between the artists of South Wales and their public".[5]

During the 1960s the South Wales Group had begun exhibiting further afield in north and mid Wales and into Bristol and Shrewsbury. The group adopted its current, broader title of The Welsh Group by 1975,[1] by which time it had also become a fully professional artists' group and, though its south east tendency is still an issue of some contention, the group had expanded its membership beyond south Wales[5] (including a number who are also members of the Royal Cambrian Academy and/or the 56 Group Wales, a splinter group initiated in 1956 when the South Wales Group failed to become a southern Academy).[1] [5]

21st century

An exhibition curated and researched by Welsh Group member Dr Ceri Thomas and funded by The National Library of Wales, Arts Council of Wales, Contemporary Art Society for Wales and the Welsh Group, was launched at the National Library of Wales, (Aberystwyth), before touring to the Royal Cambrian Academy, and Newport Museum & Art Gallery. The exhibition, Mapping The Welsh Group at 60, included work by current and past members spanning a period from soon after the second world war to work completed in the twenty-first century, just after Welsh devolution. At the exhibition launch Welsh Government Heritage Minister at the time Alun Ffred Jones highlighted the group's importance: "The Welsh Group's 60th anniversary exhibition is a major event for the arts in Wales, bringing together work from talented Welsh artists old and new".[7] A fully illustrated colour book published by Diglot Books accompanied the exhibition.[8] [9] Today the group exhibits in Wales and internationally, including recent exchange exhibitions with visual art groups in the USA[10] [11] and Germany.[12]

Membership

Full membership is made up of approximately 40 Welsh or Wales-based artists,[5] including:[13]

The chair is Paul Edwards, the secretary Neil Stone and the treasurer Heather Eastes.[14] Since 2002, with the deaths of a number of long lasting members, new members were elected, resulting in a greater gender balance and an increase in members from outside Cardiff.

From 2007 the group has included a graduate member[5] and in 2012 artist Tiff Oben began a three-year Fellowship with the group.[15]

Mathew Prichard CBE is the group's president.[6]

Former members

Former members have included major names from the field of modern Welsh art including Peter Bailey, William Brown,[16] Brenda Chamberlain,[1] Mary Fogg,[17] Arthur Giardelli,[18] Tony Goble,[19] Bert Isaac,[20] John Petts,[1] David Tinker,[21] Islwyn Watkins,[22] Laurie Williams and Ernest Zobole.[23]

Publications

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Wakelin, Peter . 50 years of the Welsh Group . National Museum of Wales . Cardiff . 1999 . 0-7200-0472-1 .
  2. Karen Price, "Art group marking 60 creative years", WalesOnline, 21 November 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  3. David Moore, Mapping the Welsh Group at Sixty: The Exhibition, Planet Online. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  4. Web site: Mapping the Welsh Group at 60 . National Library of Wales . 8 October 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121218094133/http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=1513&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=1386&cHash=8e57b2d7d9bdf30aa36c37d7d06e3731 . 18 December 2012 .
  5. Ceri . Thomas . Mapping the Welsh Group at 60 . Celf125 . Royal Cambrian Academy . 7 . January–March 2009 . 6–7 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140103183712/http://www.rcaconwy.org/content/uploads/documents/celf_issue7.pdf . 3 January 2014 .
  6. Web site: About the Group . www.welshgroup-art.com . 15 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140103172411/http://www.welshgroup-art.com/?page_id=10 . 3 January 2014 . dead.
  7. Web site: Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru - National Library of Wales : Heritage Minister Opens Welsh Group at 60 Exhibition . 15 July 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130706101457/http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=1514&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=1455&cHash=8449e65004bab1c67d28b5466ad80b22 . 6 July 2013 .
  8. Thomas 2009.
  9. Web site: Mapping the Welsh Group at 60 . Gwales.com. 1 August 2019.
  10. Web site: ISEA - ISEA/NWS/Welsh Group Art Exchange Exhibition. Iseaartexhibit.org.
  11. Web site: creativemessage.com. Welshdrawings.creativemessage.com. 1 August 2019.
  12. Web site: Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany London - Here and There we… . https://archive.today/20140624213316/http://www.london.diplo.de/Vertretung/london/en/__events/05/Welsh-German-Artists.html . 24 June 2014 . dead.
  13. Web site: Members . welsh-group . The Welsh Group . 8 July 2021 . en.
  14. Web site: Members . welsh-group . The Welsh Group . 4 April 2024 . en.
  15. Web site: Intercourse: About the Artists. Elbowroomintercourse.blogspot.com. 1 August 2019.
  16. News: William Brown: Painter and printmaker. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220620/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/william-brown-painter-and-printmaker-877816.html . 20 June 2022 . subscription . live. 26 July 2008. The Independent.
  17. Web site: Mary Fogg obituary. David. Moore. 28 December 2012. Theguardian.com.
  18. Web site: Arthur Giardelli obituary. David. Moore. 11 November 2009. Theguardian.com. 1 August 2019.
  19. Web site: Obituary: Tony Goble. Peter. Wakelin. 26 April 2007. Theguardian.com. 1 August 2019.
  20. Web site: Bert Isaac - Obituaries - News - the Independent . . https://archive.today/20130506215311/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/bert-isaac-473108.html . 6 May 2013 . dead.
  21. Web site: Obituary: David Tinker. Peter. Wakelin. 4 September 2000. Theguardian.com. 1 August 2019.
  22. News: Islwyn Watkins obituary . Moore . David . 27 January 2019 . The Guardian . en-GB . 8 September 2023 .
  23. News: Obituary: Ernest Zobole. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220620/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-ernest-zobole-1130792.html . 20 June 2022 . subscription . live. 7 December 1999. The Independent. 1 August 2019.

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