SIR KYFFIN WILLIAMS, R.A. (BRITISH, 1918-2006)
Storm over Snowdon from Llanllyfni
signed with initials 'KW' (lower right)
oil on canvas
56.2 x 76.8 cm. (22 1/8 x 30 1/4 in.)

Provenance
The artist, from whom purchased by
Private Collection
Their Sale; Christie's, London, 7 October 2008, lot 96, where purchased by the present owner

Kyffin Williams rugged landscapes and vivid portraits became emblems of Welshness.

The artist’s moody and deeply atmospheric portrayal of Storm over Snowdon from Llanllyfni, the highest point in the British Isles outside of the Scottish Highlands, captures Williams dedication to realistic portrayals of climatic landscapes. The painting captures the dominant force of nature over man, and it this case, ‘the artists’ relationship with it. In his works, nature is always a dominating force, it consumes the composition. Such is the case with this painting, its framing enables us to feel amongst the landscape, with stormy skies governing the background and muddy peaks central to the foreground. It is almost impossible to divorce his rendering of such unpredictably harsh and rugged scenes with that of his own mental state. There is undoubtably an anxiety within many of his works, not only in their isolated subject matters but too in his practice and processes. The uneasiness expressed in his works might have been rooted in many documented experiences a man suffering with epilepsy, losing consciousness, ‘without warning, in the mountains of Wales or on the London Underground I would hear music’.

In this work in particularly, he captures a storm, it comes with little warning, for a moment in time creating much disorientation.