Sir John Kyffin Williams (1918-2006)

Sir John Kyffin Williams was born on the 9^thMay 1918 in Llangefni, Anglesey, Wales. He was educated at Moreton Hall School and then at Shrewsbury School before becoming a land agent in Pwllheli between 1936 -1939. Williams enrolled at London’s Slade School of Art between 1941 -1944 and later was awarded the Slade Portrait Prize in his final year. He went on to teach art at Highgate School in London between 1944 -1978. In 1968, Williams received a Winston Churchill Fellowship to record the Welsh life in Patagonia, a significant part of his life which he highlights in his autobiography ‘A Wider Sky’.

Kyffin Williams is well known for painting welsh landscapes. With favoured use of the palette knife, his works display bold strong colours with layers of heavy impasto which often portray a sombre view of the welsh mountainous landscape.

Kyffin Williams held a number of prestigious exhibitions including the Howard Roberts Glaery in Cardiff, the National Museum of Wales and a solo exhibition at the Thackeray Gallery London. In 1973, Williams received an honorary MA from the University of Wales, was awarded an OBE in 1982 and was a member of the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists.

Kyffin Williams works are held in public and private collections, including the National Museum of Wales and the Government Art Collection