Sir Kyffin’s Bequest is an important milestone in the history of collecting for the National Library and for Wales as a whole. He had already donated many hundreds of art works to us by the time of his death, and it was felt that the special nature of the Bequest should be preserved and celebrated with a collection label, fitting for an artist of international standing.
We chose a little lino-print of a man with a dog looking out at the viewer, completely at peace with life: a sort of vision of the artist in a happy mood enjoying his beloved Welsh landscape.
The labels have been specially designed by Sir Kyffin’s own printer: David Vickers, Contoller of the Gwasg Gregynog, printed on the Gregynog Press in 2009 to the excellent standards which Kyffin so admired. They are printed in the grey ‘Kyffin grey’ which Kyffin himself chose for the Kate Roberts book Two Old Men.
Each object in the bequest will bear the label, so that it will be possible to tell instantly which pictures formed part of his gift to the nation.
On 23 January 2009 David Vickers visited the Library to present the labels to the President and Librarian, thus completing a circle of creativity and printing history.
The patrons of the Library, Penodau, kindly donated the labels, paying for their production and design. Their generosity reflected the spirit of the label and Kyffin’s love of place and people.
Paul Joyner