Financial papers held among the Kyffin Williams Archive shed some interesting light on his career as an artist. Most of the papers survive from the 1970s, after Kyffin retired as a teacher from Highgate, though some records date as far back as the late 1930s.
These archives disclose which materials Kyffin used, where they were sourced and how much they cost. As a young artist he was preparing his own canvases, purchasing for 12s 6d in August 1945 from George Rowney & Co. Ltd, London, a “piece of canvas for own stretcher 33×26″, and later utilising prepared canvases. Details are also given of sketch books, brushes and paints he used during his long career – even down to the shades of colour he bought!
Receipts for framing paintings and drawings reveal who carried out the work and to what specifications, for instance Robert Sielle, Kensington, framed:
“Patagonian Rider in landscape to special design with imitation bronze rail: cutting down and restretching canvas £25 19s 9d”.
Kyffin’s work was exhibited by various galleries and records of sales often include details of the title, medium, price and, occasionally, dimensions of pictures. These papers not only confirm when specific items were sold, they can also assist in dating paintings and drawings. Furthermore, they reflect the amount of work Kyffin produced and record the increase in its value over the years.
Sian Bowyer