Josef Herman (1911-2000) was a Jewish Polish-born fine artist and painter. In 1938, he immigrated to Belgium and then on to the UK in during the 2nd World War. He went to Wales in 1944 and was especially taken by the industrial town of Ystradgynlais. He remained there for 11 years, during which time he created work that was heavily influenced by the local miners and surrounding area.
In his memoir published in 1975, Related Twilights: Notes from an Artists Diary he remembers:
It was in 1944, either a June or a July day, I can no longer remember, but I vividly recall the heat of that afternoon and how deeply I was struck by the quiet of the village around me. There was hardly a soul to be seen. In the distance, low hills like sleeping dogs and above the hills a copper-coloured sky – how often I later returned to the colour and mood of that sky! Its light reddened the stone walls of the cottages and the outlines of the stark trees. The railing and the cement blocks of the bridge had golden contours. Under the bridge, out of a cold shadow, trickled a pool of water which got thinner and thinner as it ran on amidst the dry stones and glittering pebbles. Then, unexpectedly, as though from nowhere, a group of miners stepped onto the bridge. For a split second their heads appeared against the full body of the sun, as against a yellow disc – the whole image was not unlike an icon depicting the saints with their haloes. With the light around them, the silhouettes of the miners were almost black. With rapid steps they crossed the bridge and like frightened cats tore themselves away from each other, each going his own way. The magnificence of this scene overwhelmed me.
The Tate produced this short film examining some of Herman’s sketches of Wales – here it is below.
Additional image credits: