Gwendoline Davies
Encyclopedia
Gwendoline Elizabeth Davies, CH (February 11, 1882
– July 3, 1951
), was a granddaughter of the philanthropist David Davies Llandinam
. Together with her sister Margaret
, she is remembered as a patron of the arts in Wales
and important collector of Impressionist and 20th-century art. They created one of the most important private collections of art in Britain and donated their total of 260 works to what is now the National Museum Wales
in the mid-20th century.
, her father Edward being the only son of David Davies, an industrialist and philanthropist
. Her brother was David Davies, 1st Baron Davies
and her sister Margaret
. Both girls were educated at Highfield School in Hendon.
Gwendoline and Margaret Davies bought the mansion of Gregynog
just after the First World War
, and set up an arts centre there. In 1923 the sisters launched the Gregynog Press
, printing fine limited editions in both English
and Welsh
.
About 1908 while traveling in Europe, the sisters began to collect art. In particular, they purchased many works by the Impressionists
and post-Impressionists, although they also acquired holdings of 20th-century modern artists, such as Josef Herman
, Oskar Kokoschka
, Augustus John
, Stanley Spencer
, Frank Brangwyn
, and Eric Gill
. They bequeathed their joint collection of 260 works to the National Museum of Wales, forming the nucleus in the mid-20th century of its international art collection and greatly expanding its range. It has been called "one of the great British art collections of the 20th century."
Whereas art was Margaret's passion, Gwen was a talented amateur musician
. From 1933 to 1938, they sponsored the Gregynog Music Festival
at their estate, a 3-4 day affair that included poetry readings. The festivals played host to important composers and other musical figures of the period, including Ralph Vaughan Williams
, Edward Elgar
, Gustav Holst
, "the conductor Adrian Boult
, and the poet Lascelles Abercrombie
; and performers including Jelly d'Arányi
and the Rothschild Quartet
."
The sisters ended the festival during the build-up to the Second World War
. It was revived during 1955-1961 by Ian Parrott
, who was Gregynog Professor of Music at Aberystwyth
for more than 30 years. The festival was revived again in 1988 by the tenor Anthony Rolfe Johnson
. It continues under Rhian Davies
's direction.
Neither of the sisters married. Gwen died in Oxford
. Her ashes were buried at her birthplace of Llandinam, as were her sister's after her death in 1961.
1882 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1882 to Wales and its people.-Incumbents:*Prince of Wales — The Prince Albert Edward, son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom*Princess of Wales — Alexandra of Denmark...
– July 3, 1951
1951 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1951 to Wales and its people.-Incumbents:*Prince of Wales - vacant*Princess of Wales - vacant*Archbishop of Wales - John Morgan*Archdruid of the National Eisteddfod of Wales - Cynan...
), was a granddaughter of the philanthropist David Davies Llandinam
David Davies (industrialist)
David Davies was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1874 and 1886. Davies was often known as David Davies Llandinam , in order to differentiate him from others of the same name.Davies was the son of David Davies and his wife Elizabeth...
. Together with her sister Margaret
Margaret Davies
Margaret Sidney Davies , was a Welsh art collector and patron of the arts. With her sister Gwendoline, she bequeathed a total of 260 works, particularly strong in Impressionist and 20th-century art, which formed the basis of the present-day National Museum Wales' international collection...
, she is remembered as a patron of the arts in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
and important collector of Impressionist and 20th-century art. They created one of the most important private collections of art in Britain and donated their total of 260 works to what is now the National Museum Wales
National Museum Wales
Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, formerly the National Museums and Galleries of Wales, comprises eight museums in Wales:* National Museum Cardiff* St Fagans: National History Museum, Cardiff* Big Pit National Coal Museum, Blaenavon...
in the mid-20th century.
Early life and education
Gwendoline Davies was born at LlandinamLlandinam
Llandinam is village in Powys, central Wales, between Newtown and Llanidloes, located on the A470.Llandinam was the family home of David Davies who was responsible for much of the development of the South Wales Valleys and the export of coal in the 19th century...
, her father Edward being the only son of David Davies, an industrialist and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. Her brother was David Davies, 1st Baron Davies
David Davies, 1st Baron Davies
David Davies, 1st Baron Davies , was a politician and public benefactor, the grandson of the famous industrialist, David Davies "Llandinam"....
and her sister Margaret
Margaret Davies
Margaret Sidney Davies , was a Welsh art collector and patron of the arts. With her sister Gwendoline, she bequeathed a total of 260 works, particularly strong in Impressionist and 20th-century art, which formed the basis of the present-day National Museum Wales' international collection...
. Both girls were educated at Highfield School in Hendon.
Gwendoline and Margaret Davies bought the mansion of Gregynog
Gregynog
Gregynog is a large country hall in the village of Tregynon, 4 miles northwest of Newtown in Powys, mid-Wales. Various halls have occupied the site since the twelfth century and it was the ancestral home of the Blayneys and the Traceys from the fifteenth century...
just after the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and set up an arts centre there. In 1923 the sisters launched the Gregynog Press
Gregynog Press
The Gregynog Press, also known as Gwasg Gregynog, is a printing press and charity in Wales.Founded in 1922 by the sisters and art patrons Margaret and Gwendoline Davies, the press was named after their mansion Gregynog Hall. It rose to prominence in the pre-war era as among the more important...
, printing fine limited editions in both English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
.
About 1908 while traveling in Europe, the sisters began to collect art. In particular, they purchased many works by the Impressionists
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
and post-Impressionists, although they also acquired holdings of 20th-century modern artists, such as Josef Herman
Josef Herman
Josef Herman, also known in Wales as Joe Bach , was a highly regarded Polish-British realist painter who influenced contemporary art, particularly in the United Kingdom . His work often had subjects of workers and was inherently political...
, Oskar Kokoschka
Oskar Kokoschka
Oskar Kokoschka was an Austrian artist, poet and playwright best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes.-Biography:...
, Augustus John
Augustus John
Augustus Edwin John OM, RA, was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a short time around 1910, he was an important exponent of Post-Impressionism in the United Kingdom....
, Stanley Spencer
Stanley Spencer
Sir Stanley Spencer was an English painter. Much of his work depicts Biblical scenes, from miracles to Crucifixion, happening not in the Holy Land but in the small Thames-side village where he was born and spent most of his life...
, Frank Brangwyn
Frank Brangwyn
Sir Frank William Brangwyn RA RWS RBA was an Anglo-Welsh artist, painter, water colourist, virtuoso engraver and illustrator, and progressive designer.- Biography :...
, and Eric Gill
Eric Gill
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill was a British sculptor, typeface designer, stonecutter and printmaker, who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement...
. They bequeathed their joint collection of 260 works to the National Museum of Wales, forming the nucleus in the mid-20th century of its international art collection and greatly expanding its range. It has been called "one of the great British art collections of the 20th century."
Whereas art was Margaret's passion, Gwen was a talented amateur musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. From 1933 to 1938, they sponsored the Gregynog Music Festival
Gregynog Music Festival
thumb|alt=The Music Room, Gregynog|The Music Room, GregynogGregynog Festival, or Gŵyl Gregynog in Welsh, is the oldest extant classical music festival in Wales and takes place each summer at Gregynog Hall in the village of Tregynon, near Newtown, Powys, mid-Wales.In its present form, Gregynog...
at their estate, a 3-4 day affair that included poetry readings. The festivals played host to important composers and other musical figures of the period, including Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
, Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
, Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
, "the conductor Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
, and the poet Lascelles Abercrombie
Lascelles Abercrombie
Lascelles Abercrombie was a British poet and literary critic, one of the "Dymock poets"...
; and performers including Jelly d'Arányi
Jelly d'Arányi
Jelly d'Aranyi, fully Jelly Aranyi de Hunyadvár was a Hungarian violinist who made her home in London.She born in Budapest, the grand-niece of Joseph Joachim, and sister of the violinist Adila Fachiri. She began her studies as a pianist, but switched to violin at the Music Academy in Budapest...
and the Rothschild Quartet
Kolisch Quartet
The Kolisch Quartet was a string quartet musical ensemble founded in Vienna, originally as the New Vienna String Quartet for the performance of Schoenberg's works, and settling to the form in which it was later known. It had a worldwide reputation and made several recordings...
."
The sisters ended the festival during the build-up to the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was revived during 1955-1961 by Ian Parrott
Ian Parrott
Ian Parrott , who retired from the Gregynog Chair of Music at Aberystwyth in 1983, is a prolific Anglo-Welsh composer and writer on music. His distinctions include the first prize of the Royal Philharmonic Society for his symphonic poem Luxor, and commissions by the BBC and Yale University, and for...
, who was Gregynog Professor of Music at Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
for more than 30 years. The festival was revived again in 1988 by the tenor Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Anthony Rolfe Johnson, CBE was an English operatic tenor.-Life and career:Born in Tackley in Oxfordshire, Rolfe Johnson studied with Ellis Keeler and Vera Rosza at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He first appeared in opera in the chorus and in small roles at the Glyndebourne Festival...
. It continues under Rhian Davies
Rhian Davies
Rhian Davies is an Australian football player, who currently plays for Canberra United FC in the Australian W-League.-National duties:...
's direction.
Neither of the sisters married. Gwen died in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. Her ashes were buried at her birthplace of Llandinam, as were her sister's after her death in 1961.
Legacy and honours
- 1937, Gwen Davies was created a Companion of Honour.
- 1953 and 1961, the Davies Sisters collection was bequeathed to the National Museum Wales.
- 1967, the Davies Memorial Gallery was purpose-built in Newtown, Powys with a legacy left by the Davies sisters. In January 2003, after major refurbishment, the Gallery re-opened as Oriel Davies Gallery in recognition of the sisters.
- 1988, the Gregynog Festival was revived.
Sources
- "Gwendoline Davies", Welsh Biography Online
- BBC