Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Some landscape oil sketches depict famous sites and buildings, while others focus on unassuming corners of nature. This early landscape depicts the HenrydFalls, near Coelbren, where the River Llech plunges 90 feet over a cliff on its way to the Tawe. It is one of a group of landscapes probably from the Lamb and Flag inn Glyn-Neath. This was a convenient centre from which to explore the Vale and was described by William Weston Young in 1835 as 'a comfortable inn to refresh at...it is very prettily seated, and the views from it very fine'. The artist Penry Williams was originally from Merthyr Tydfil, but eventually settled in Rome. Here his brushstrokes are free, impulsive, and parts of the picture have been left unfinished. This suggests he worked quickly to capture the effect of water foaming over the falls.