Welsh British Modernist, Ca 1905: Purple Hills, Clouds with a Silver Lining, Italian Village Oil on Canvas

Welsh British Modernist, ca 1905: purple hills, clouds with a silver lining, Italian Village oil on canvas.

An extraordinary art nouveau painting with exquisite colours. It is a work by Welsh modernist Christopher Williams RBA (1873–1934), an artist who is only just being rediscovered in this century.

Williams was born in Maesteg in 1873. He studied initially at the NeathTechnical Institute, and from 1893 at the Royal College of Art ("the only Welshman there") and the Royal Academy Schools.

He became a member of the Royal Society of British Artists and also exhibited with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters until 1930.

In 1911, Williams received a commission from King George V to work on a commemorative painting of the Investiture of Edward, Prince of Wales. As well as attending the ceremony, he visited Buckingham Palace, where the Royal Family sat for him in order to complete the detail of the picture.

Among his portraits were those of David Lloyd George, Sir John Williams, Sir John Rhys, Sir Henry Jones, Sir John Morris Jones, Dr Stanton Coit, Sir Frederick Mills and John Hinds MP. Lloyd George described him as "one of the most gifted artists Wales has produced".

During the First World War, Williams painted The Welsh at Mametz Wood, now in Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.

He painted landscapes in Wales, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, Morocco and Holland.

The painting presented here, originally with Leigh Underhill Gallery in London, is titled Italian Hill on its original label to the verso. Williams spent a year in Italy in 1905-06 with his young wife Emily Appleyard, and it is very likely the work was painted during that time. The early date makes the audacity of the colours even more exciting.

The shades of purple, lavender are almost hypnotic; the turquoise clouds have a silvery-white lining.

Works by the artist are in the collections of the National Museum of Wales, National Library of Wales, Royal Collection, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Newport Museum, Parc Howard Museum and Art Gallery, Carmarthenshire County Museum, Maesteg Town Hall, Bridgend County Borough Council, Caernarfon Council, Harewood House, Aberystwyth University, National Liberal Club, Lloyd George Museum, Ffyone Mansion, Bangor University, Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Froebel College, Templeton House, Dulwich College, Llandovery College, Neath Port Talbot College, Bradford Museums Galleries and Heritage.

In 1973, an exhibition was organised on the centenary of William's birth at the National Museum of Wales, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and Maesteg Town Hall. A major retrospective exhibition of his work took place from July to September 2012 at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth.

A full - and more lively - biography may be found on the site of Robert Meyrick who conceived, researched and curated an exhibition at the National Library of Wales in 2012.

Our beautiful oil on canvas is signed at the lower right and measures 55.5 x 43 cm.

It is presented in a beautiful period hardwood frame by frame maker John Smith at 117 Hampstead Road, London NW, who is referenced in the archives of the National Portrait Gallery. The overall framed size is 49.5 x 62 cm

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