Photographs from estates of deceased persons engender an initial feeling of melancholy. Hastily assembled in shoe boxes and biscuit tins is a kaleidoscope of images that reveal a life now extinguished. There are inevitably anonymous Victorian portraits, cherubic sepia babies in frills, smiling snapshot children with buckets, spades and sandy knees. More rummaging and little cherubs are transformed via school uniforms into serious, impeccably groomed twenty-somethings. Subsequent snapshots, formal portraits or group photos show the progression through adulthood of the fondly remembered whose loss is lamented.
Photographs from Kyffin Williams’ estate duplicate this pattern. Early photos of a very small boy with slightly older brother progress to snapshots of a carefree boyhood with dog, bicycle or rowing boat followed by group portraits commemorating military service. From there it’s a short step to the moustachioed Daliesque 1950s art master (see above), and later, the artist in paint-spattered overalls or tweed jacket.
Two slide collections quickly dispel any initial melancholy. One documents his visit to Patagonia in 1968-1969 bringing to life his writings on the experience with a Kodakchrome vibrancy. The other collection, some 650, record his many artworks and are now the sole public record of many paintings. They also show how his style has changed over the years and why his artistic stature grew.
Will Troughton