Quite some man our Glynn (Glynn Vivian Art Gallery)

Member Name: welshwolf

Product:	Glynn Vivian Art Gallery
Date:	30/05/01 (72 review reads)
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The art Gallery is named after its founder and principal benefactor Richard Glynn Vivian. The Vivian’s owned the largest copper works in Swansea and then the main British Copper smelting centre. He was a practical scientist an intellectual and a prominent member of local society. Glynn had a great love as a serious collector of paintings and china.

Basically what is in the gallery is what he collected and put into a purpose built gallery. The sad part about it being that Glynn died a matter of days before the gallery opened in 1911.

What was left reflects Glynn’s diverse tastes and as well as paintings, watercolours and prints he bought metalwork, glassware, miniature paintings a magnificent collection of ceramics which naturally have many fine examples of Swansea and Nantgarw pottery and porcelain.

As you enter the gallery you come to a very sparse reception area with a number of books and postcards that you can browse through prior to going on to the main gallery. It costs nothing to enter but donations are gratefully received. The visitor’s book on the way in was a very interesting read with people from all over the world leaving their comments.

Not being a great lover of modern art I found the first Gallery showing work by an artist who’s name impressed me so much that I have forgotten it. Basically it was a pile of stones and feathers etc placed in boxes, colourful but my kids could do the same.

Upstairs was the real art banks of glass cabinets with Glynn’s collection some very basic and others very crude. I spent a good couple of hours wondering through with the kids tugging on my coat sleeve.

The paintings were also fantastic with a collection by Josef Herman who resided in Ystradgynlais (now my home) and depicted local people and scenes.

What turned out to me somewhere to go on a rainy Tuesday turned into an interesting and cheap afternoon. Well worth a vi
sit although kids may not find it of much interest, well at least my did not!!!

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