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‡ OGWYN DAVIES (1925-2015) rare original mixed media including collage, acrylic and heightening - entitled verso 'Soar y Myny

Rogers Jones & Co

Lot 396

‡ OGWYN DAVIES (1925-2015) rare original mixed media including collage, acrylic and heightening - entitled verso 'Soar y Mynydd', signed and dated 1992, 80 x 57cmsProvenance: purchased in the 1992 National Eisteddfod at Aberystwyth by the vendor, a smaller version was used to produce a series of famous printsAuctioneer's Note: an incredibly rare opportunity to acquire an original Soar-y-Mynydd image by Ogwyn Davies, one of the most iconic of images in modern Welsh art with its romantic depiction of one of the remotest chapel in Wales over typed with Welsh hymns and musical notes. This hauntingly beautiful print is a regular at our three times per year Welsh Sale. But never did we expect an appearance by an original.The chapel of Soar y Mynydd in Ceredigion would have been a familiar landmark to the artist Ogwyn Davies (1925 – 2015). He lived less than ten miles away from it, in Tregaron. Those ten miles are however profoundly lonely and isolated, and the chapel’s remoteness seems to us today as bizarre as it is miraculous and moving.This unique place of worship has a hold on the imagination. Its Welsh-language services, held during the summer months attract congregations from all over Wales and beyond, its location probably being more of a draw that its architecture. Like all Welsh Nonconformist chapels of the early nineteenth century, the interior is as plain as the face it presents. The only decoration are the words, “Duw cariad yw” (God is love), painted behind the pulpit. Ogwyn Davies was drawn to such texts: he loved to paint through the medium of Welsh. He created paintings and collages from the words of the national anthem (Hen Wlad fy Nhadau), and in 1997, spelt out an unequivocal “Yes” to devolution through tiny versions of the affirmative’s Welsh-language equivalent, “Ie”.In Soar y Mynydd, he turns again to Welsh (the language of heaven, as its speakers would insist), this time to explore and celebrate the dense relationship between place and culture and to synthesise word, image and sound. Collaged Biblical texts, hymns and their tunes add texture to the chapel’s plain façade, roll over the hills and ascend to the sky. The “Duw cariad yw” behind the pulpit, through centuries of association, gives rise to more phrases - familiar, ritualistic and defiantly monoglot – which cannot be contained within walls. These are the words which give meaning to the simple building, and which sanctify its remote location. Ogwyn Davies was not only familiar with Soar y Mynydd, but he also understood its significance and its appeal to the Welsh psyche – he may well have attended some of its services. In this painting he has certainly captured the magic of those Sunday afternoons in the summer, when the silent and bleak landscape around Soar y Mynydd reverberates to the sounds of sermons, songs and a shared history, which continues to inspire and unite us as a community and a nation.Comments: framed and glazed Free Delivery: bidders with invoices over £4000 in this Welsh Sale can benefit from free insured delivery to their home (England and Wales only). To enquire about this service, please email brj@rjauctions.co.uk

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