SIR KYFFIN WILLIAMS, R.A. (1918-2006)

'My Welsh inheritance must remain a strong force in my work, for it is in Wales that I can paint with the greatest freedom. I have worked in Holland, France and Austria, in Italy and in Greece, but none of these lovely countries I have found the mood that touches the seam of melancholy that is within most Welshmen, a melancholy that derives from the dark hills, the heavy clouds and the enveloping sea mists'. (K. Williams, Across the Straits: An Autobiography, London, 1973)

Llanllyfni, depicted in the present work, is Kyffin Williams's birthplace; a small village from which Snowdon is visible. Williams commented of the majesty of the place: 'In the evening when the heavy clouds settle on Snowdon, the setting sun becomes obscured and only its rays can be seen emerging from behind the dark mass. The contrast always excites me for the clouds are so much a part of the landscape I love and have always been an important part of the paintings I have produced in over 60 years of creativity.' (Exhibition catalogue, Thackeray Gallery, Kyffin Williams R.A., London, 2004, p. 24).