Sir John Kyffin Williams KBE RA (Welsh School 1918-2006), Cottages, pencil and watercolour on paper, initialled KW bottom right, mounted and framed. Measurements 29 x 40.5 cm (i), framed 53.8 x 64.8 cm.

The work has been in private hands, in mid Wales, since the 1970s and this is the first time it has been on the open market.

Sir John Kyffin Williams (1918-2006) was a Welsh artist and one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th Century. He was encouraged to take up painting by his doctor in light of his epilepsy diagnosis. He studied at the Slade School of Fine Art 1941-1944, under Schwale and Allan Gwynne-Jones, going on to become the Senior Art Master at Highgate School in London. Kyffin Williams is best known for his signature contrasting sombre palette, depicting Welsh landscapes and especially cottages, characteristically using a palette kniffe and thick impasto paint. He did also undertake a number of portraits, being awarded the 1963 Winston Churchill fellowship to record the life of the Welsh in Patagonia, an experience who recorded in his book A Wider Sky. Kyffin Williams spent much of his time in Gwynedd, becoming the Deputy Lieutenant of the county, before retiring to Anglesey in 1973. A highly celebrated artist in his own time, he was awarded numerous accolades including an OBE 1982, Knighthood 1999, an honorary Masters Degree from the University of Wales, President of the Royal Cambrian Academy, elected to the Royal Academy and Royal Society of British Artists.