Conservation work under way on oil paintings
CONSERVATION work is under way on six oil paintings by artist Christopher Williams, who was dubbed by former Prime Minister David Lloyd George as “one of the most gifted artists Wales has produced”.
They have been temporarily removed from Maesteg Town Hall, while the building undergoes an £8.2m redevelopment.
Williams was born in nearby Commercial Street in 1873.
His paintings – Paolo and Francesca, ‘Now I’m the Judge’, Alice Sophia Amelia Stopford Green, The Remorse of Judas, Mrs SackvillEvans and Mr Evan Williams – are being treated by renowned painting conservator Rachel Howells at her south Wales studio.
Rachel and colleague Sarah Bayliss are assessing the condition of each thoroughly; photographing the paintings whilst in their frames and throughout the process as they are removed; and documenting any interesting labels and signatures found on the back of the frames and artwork.
They then set about the painstaking task of carefully cleaning the surface of each to remove decades of dust, dirt and other airborne pollutants from the canvases, using soft cotton swabs.
If a painting is beginning to flake, which was experienced with ‘Now I’m the Judge’, it is stabilised, in the first instance, so the paint layer is completely secure before the cleaning process takes place.
Once cleaned, the six paintings will be reframed, and glazed for the first time in their lifetimes, which will help minimise their exposure to ultraviolet light when they are rehung at Maesteg Town Hall.
Rachel said: “One of the privileges of being a painting conservator is that you get nose to nose with the paintings you are working on. It is really nice that you can actually see how the artist has applied the paint, what style of brush strokes he has used, what the layer structure is, what the priming layer is, and how he’s applied paint on top of that.”
Charity Awen Cultural Trust has received funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and
The Pilgrim Trust towards the paintings’ preservation.
Richard Hughes, Awen’s chief executive, said: “Maesteg-born Christopher Williams was an artist of note. His paintings – two of which he donated to Maesteg Town
Hall in 1934, and four which were donated by his widow – are a significant part of the cultural heritage of the venue and the Llynfi valley. I am pleased it is within our gift to work with Rachel and Sarah to professionally conserve these paintings, so they can continue to be viewed and enjoyed, as the artist would have wanted, for very many years to come.
“We also look forward to finding creative ways of describing, explaining and interpreting these paintings, as well as Christopher Williams’ influence on Welsh art when we re-open the hall in late 2021.”