Tag: paintings

Designer Desire: Lilwen Lewis

Montage of Lilwen Lewis paintings

A couple of weeks ago on a trip into Aberystwyth, Justin walked past Oriel y Bont – and an artwork in the window really stood out for him. He went over for a closer look and found that it was painted by Welsh artist, Lilwen Lewis.

When he returned home, he told me about it, and we looked online to see if we could find any information about her and discover any more of her works.

Lilwen is local to New Quay, a Mid-Wales harbour town 20 miles south of Aberystwyth. She studied art for 5 years; first to Carmarthen School of Art then on to Swansea School of Art to study Painting & Stained Glass and finally Cardiff College of Art, graduating from Cardiff University. She returned to live and work in New Quay after her studies and a five year stint teaching Art and Craft at St Clears Secondary School. She’s a member of Cardigan Art Society.

My inspiration comes from the landscape around my home walking through woods, farms and down to the seafront among the fishing boats. Observing the changing moods of the landscape and the people.

I like experimenting with different mediums and techniques. Going from realism through to semi abstraction. You never know how work will turn out or what it will lead to.

Portrait of Lilwen Lewiscredit

Additional image credits:

Oriel y Bont | The Gallery yr Oriel

Auction Alert: Pictures, 19th/20th Century Design & Ceramics

WEDGWOOD RAVILIOUS MUG - EDWARD VIII

444 lots are coming under the hammer at the next Pictures, 19th/20th Century Design & Ceramics sale at Lawrence Fine Art Auctioneers Ltd in Crewkerne, Somerset. The auction takes place on 19th January 2022, from 10am.

If you’re an avid wild bird enthusiast (like we are) there are lots of lovely original works of art featuring (primarily) waders; oystercatchers, plovers, moorcocks, geese and greenshanks. We’ve featured a few of these below.

We’ve also highlighted a couple of Whitefriars ‘drunken bricklayer’ glass vases in the larger size. These are highly collectable and continue to rise in value.

A premium of 30% (25% plus VAT) will be charged on top of the hammer price on all lots. VAT isn’t applicable on books or unframed maps.

Any lots purchased online with the-saleroom.com will be subject to an additional 5.94% (4.95% plus VAT) which is applied by the saleroom.com.
Any lots purchased online with easyliveAuction.com will be subject to an additional 3.6% (3% plus VAT) or you can opt to pay a flat fee per sale of £3.00 (inc VAT)  per sale which is applied by easyliveAuction.
Whilst the responsibility for the collection of purchases rests with the buyer, subject to the terms below, for a packing fee plus the cost of postage and insurance, when time permits, we are able to post small items such as jewellery, small items of silver, individual books, small ceramics, coins, medals etc.

On their website, they include a long list of items that they are not prepared to ship, so check prior to bidding.

SIR KYFFIN WILLIAMS, RA - 'A HAMLET IN THE HILLS'

Lot 774: SIR KYFFIN WILLIAMS, RA (1918-2006) ‘A HAMLET IN THE HILLS‘
Signed with initials, charcoal and washes 24.5 x 34cm.
Estimate £800 – £1,200

PHILIP RICKMAN - 'OYSTERCATCHERS'

Lot 777: PHILIP RICKMAN (1891-1982) ‘OYSTERCATCHERS‘
Signed and dated 1974, watercolour and gouache 27 x 38cm. Provenance: London, The Tryon Gallery Ltd.
Estimate £300 – £500

JOHN CYRIL HARRISON - 'CURLEW AND PLOVER'

Lot 783: JOHN CYRIL HARRISON (1898-1985) ‘CURLEW AND PLOVER‘
Signed, watercolour and pencil 38 x 55.5cm.
Estimate £800 – £1,200

ANDREW HASLEN - 'STARTLED WOODCOCK'

Lot 796: ANDREW HASLEN (b.1953) ‘STARTLED WOODCOCK‘
Signed and dated 87, oil on canvas, lath frame 101 x 126.5cm.
Estimate £300 – £400

GIORGETTI 'ZENO' DESIGNER DESK & OFFICE CHAIR

Lot 852: GIORGETTI ‘ZENO’ DESIGNER DESK & OFFICE CHAIR
A designer desk designed by Massimo Scolari for Giorgetti, made in maccasar ebony and beech and supported on two uprights with opposing legs with metal detailing. Also with a matching office chair with adjustable back and black leather seat. Both with makers plaques for Giorgetti, designed by Massimo Scolari, and serial numbers. Desk 161cms by 80cms, 73cms high, Chair 89cms high.
*This was purchased at Harrods some years ago.
Estimate £800 – £1,200

PAIR OF BAUHAUS STYLE ARMCHAIRS & MATCHING STOOL

Lot 854: PAIR OF BAUHAUS STYLE ARMCHAIRS & MATCHING STOOL
A pair of armchairs after a design by Thonet, with wooden arms and a tubular chrome frame, with leopard print upholstery and with a matching stool. Armchairs 79cms high. (3)
Estimate £400 – £600

G PLAN ROOM DIVIDER - MID CENTURY

Lot 860: G PLAN ROOM DIVIDER – MID CENTURY
A large teak room divider, the top section with a drop down flap and glass shelf, and various shaped shelves supported on vertical metal supports. The bottom section with a two door cupboard and three drawers, supported on turned legs and cross stretcher. 182cms high, 122cms across.
Estimate £150 – £250

'BARGET' MID CENTURY COCKTAIL BAR

Lot 869: ‘BARGET’ MID CENTURY COCKTAIL BAR
A semi circular retro cocktail bar, supported on three small tapering legs. With original makers label, Barget, London. 99.5cms high
Estimate £50 – £100

LARGE WHITEFRIARS 'DRUNKEN BRICKLAYER' VASE

Lot 879: LARGE WHITEFRIARS ‘DRUNKEN BRICKLAYER’ VASE
In the tangerine colourway and designed by Geoffrey Baxter, Model No 9672 and made from 1969-1974. 32.5cms high
Estimate £400 – £600

WHITEFRIARS - LARGE DRUNKEN BRICKLAYER VASE

Lot 880: WHITEFRIARS – LARGE DRUNKEN BRICKLAYER VASE
A large textured glass vase designed by Geoffrey Baxter, Pattern No 9672 and in the Kingfisher Blue colourway. Issued from 1969-1974, 33cms high
Estimate £400 – £600

WEDGWOOD RAVILIOUS MUG - EDWARD VIII

Lot 921: WEDGWOOD RAVILIOUS MUG – EDWARD VIII
An unusual mug designed by Eric Ravilious for Wedgwood to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VIII in 1937, with a couple of cracks, 10.5cms high. Also with a Edward VIII commemorative spoon. (2)
Estimate £100 – £150

LARGE SLIPWARE DISH

Lot 997: LARGE SLIPWARE DISH
Probably 19thc, with trails of yellow slip on a dark brown ground and with a notched rim (33cms diameter). Also with a large slipware jug with white slip on dark brown glaze (22.5cms high), two similar tankards (12cms high), a large medieval style jug (29cms high), and a replica of a slipware posset pot (16cms high). (6)
Estimate £150 – £250

CHINESE SILK JACKET & MATCHING SKIRT

Lot 1046: CHINESE SILK JACKET & MATCHING SKIRT
Late 19thc or early 20thc, the red silk jacket with a pale green lining and cross over fastening and gilt metal buttons. The ivory silk cuffs, hem, and shaped facings are heavily embroidered with butterflies, birds and bats and a variety of flowers, and edged with an embroidered border of blue silk. With a matching pleated skirt. Jacket 91cms high, Skirt 93cms high. (2)
Estimate £300 – £500

Designer Desire: Ogwyn Davies

Montage of Ogwyn Davies artworks

Born in Trebanos, Neath Port Talbot, Ogwyn Davies (1925-2015) was a Welsh fine artist, ceramist and school teacher. He attended Swansea School of Art between 1947 & 52 before going on to teach at Tregaron Comprehensive (Ysgol Uchradd) from 1955 to 1985. He was one of the founder members (along with Hywel Harries) of the Cardiganshire Art Society which was established in 1963.

I find farm buildings interest me greatly. Very often, the human association of several generations can be seen in the barns and sheds and a sense of poetry seems ever present. They record so graphically the passing of time as it leaves its marks on the walls. For decades many Welsh walls have become part of the world of protest and my interest in walls and marks have resulted in works reflecting this. The use of the words of our National Anthem came about I think after regular attendance at the Arms Park in Cardiff and hearing choirs of over fifty thousand voices singing the words so movingly [credit]

His most famous work is probably Soar y Mynydd (top left in the montage above) the Grade II listed, Calvinist Methodist chapel in Llanddewi Brefi near Tregaron, Ceredigion. Built in 1822, it’s claimed to be the remotest chapel in all of Wales.

Examples of his work can be found in the permanent collections of National Library of Wales, National Museum Wales, Ceredigion Museum and Aberystwyth University.

credit

Additional image credits:
ArtUK | MOMA Cymru | Mutual Art

Designer Desire: Mary Ellen Best

Montage of paintings by Mary Ellen Best

I love going out for a walk around dusk, when people have turned on their lights, but haven’t yet drawn the curtains. You can get a sneaky look inside and see how they’ve furnished and decorated their homes. I think that’s why I was first attracted to the works of this week’s artist.

Mary Ellen Best (1809-1891) was an English watercolour artist, primarily concentrating on English – and later on, German – domestic interior scenes. She was born in York, the daughter of Dr Charles Best, a physician who worked at the York Lunatic Asylum (now Bootham Park Hospital). Her mother was Mary Norcliffe Dalton, the daughter of a Yorkshire landowner. She was brought up, along with her younger sister, Rosamond, in Little Blake Street (now Duncombe Place) near the west end of York Minster.

Best showed artistic promise from a young age, having art lessons at boarding school during her teenage years. As a young woman, she produced and sold many paintings and also exhibited widely.

As well as her own home, Best painted a number of studies of the Norcliffe family’s East Yorkshire home, Langton Park. There are many well-to-do town & country house drawing rooms, sitting rooms, dining rooms, music rooms etc. But it’s the ‘below stairs’ views that I find most interesting; the servant’s quarters, the kitchens and the more modest cottage interiors.

After the death of her parents and grandmother, from whom she inherited handsome sums each time, Best’s artistic output decreased. After she married German schoolmaster, Johann Anton Phillip Sary in 1840, the number of paintings she produced lessened even further until they virtually dried up after giving birth to and raising a son and daughter.

In 1985, a biography entitled The World of Mary Ellen Best was written by Caroline Davidson. In it, she calculated that Best produced over 1,500 paintings in her lifetime. Copies of the book are available at Abe Books and Amazon.

You can also find many more details about life on the Women of York blog and essay, Negotiating Identity: Mary Ellen Best and The Status of Female Victorian Artists.

Self-portrait by Mary Ellen Best, 1839
Self-portrait by Mary Ellen Best, 1839 (credit)

Additional image credits:
Askart