News & Events

Over the course of the last year, I have made several important and exciting discoveries in the field of historical Welsh paintings. These include a monumental view of Llanberis Pass by Hugh Hughes (1847), Richard Wilson's earliest extant professional portrait (1738), an exceptionally early and detailed birds-eye view of Caernarfon (c. 1730) and the Monmouthshire artist Thomas Tudor's only known oil portrait (1819). Images of these, together with basic details, appear on the FINDS section on this website. Detailed information is available on all of them, upon request.




Lastest discovery - an important oil portrait by William Parry A.R.A - entirely unknown and the first to emerge since I wrote the biography of the painter in 2008. This will also appear in the FINDS section when sold.

From Friday 12 June the gallery will be staging a selling exhibition of original paintings and drawings of Ludlow and South Shropshire. These mostly date between 1830 and 1930 and range from a large and dramatic mid-19thc prospect of the town from the north-west, in oils, to a small pen and ink view looking over the Linney from the north, drawn around 1831. In addition to depictions of the town itself, there are also paintings of various local villages and landmarks by the highly accomplished F. M Finch of Craven Arms who was painting between the 1930's and 1970's.


The exhibition also features examples of the work of two of the most celebrated artists living in the town in the first half of the 19th century - a very fine portrait miniature of 1820 by William Gwynn of Corve Street, and a highly accomplished oil painting of Abergavenny by William Ward Gill who lived in the Linney. One of the more unusual pictures is a silhouette of the Rev. Richard Baugh, Rector of Ludlow in the Regency period.


Prices of exhibits range from £100 to £5000. These are not on the gallery website but a list is available and images/details of specific items will be sent upon request. Please note that nothing will be sold until the exhibition opens but previews may be possible by prior arrangement.


Everyone is warmly welcomed to come and see some fascinating historic views of the town and district. Please note that the exhibition runs at the same time as the Ludlow Fringe Arts Festival which promises a fantastic schedule of events. For further information please click here.


The exhibition will run until Saturday 11th July.

I will be exhibiting for the first time at the forthcoming Burton Court Antiques Fair, on Sunday 17th May (10 a.m-5 p.m). Burton Court is near the village of Eardisland, south-west of Leominster and must rank as one of the most attractive settings for an antiques fair in Britain. You approach up a wooded drive, park on a sweeping lawn and the fair is partly in a marquee by this romantic and historic country house, and partly inside it. I will be showing a selection of pictures, mostly watercolours, in a large and light room within the house and am looking forward to a busy day getting to know more local dealers and meeting new clients.


This is a really nice fair with a very broad mix of tradtional, quirky and decorative antiques - to those familiar with them, it is a cross between the Bath Decorative Fair and Vincent Square. There is certainly plenty to be found by those looking for bargains as well as the the more discerning collector. Oh, and there is also a very nice cafe serving home-make cakes.


For more details please click here

Today is the first anniversary of opening in Ludlow. The sun is shining and looking back over the past twelve months there is much to be optimistic about. Business has been good both locally and with old clients and the welcome from the town has been warm. The set-up of the gallery, within the house, has worked well and my window displays always attract a lot of interest from passers-by. This summer I will be putting on an exhibition of original paintings of Ludlow and the surrounding area which I hope will be of real interest to people living here whether or not they are art-buyers. I am also exhibiting at the Burton Court Antiques Fair in May which I hope will be a good promotional event (and with any luck there may be some sales too). Personally, I am much happier in Ludlow and in my own gallery and I look forward to the coming of spring and all that the next year will bring.

On Thursday, 17th July, Kimberly and I went to Cardiff to see the Richard Wilson exhibition at the National Museum. Happily, we had been alerted, by Peter Lord, to the James Dickson Innes (1887-1914) exhibition which finished on Sunday. It was a revelation and if you didn't see it then it is well worth getting the catalogue which remains on sale at the Museum.


Reviews of 'Richard Wilson (1714-82) and the Transformation of British Landscape Painting', are now appearing in the newspapers and the ones I have seen have been very positive and have rightly emphasised how long overdue this reappraisal is. It has been said that he is a 'forgotten' painter, despite being the acknowledged 'father of British landscape painting' and a major inspiration for both Constable and Turner. Whilst he is highly unlikely to achieve the stature of these two giants in British public consciousness, his best work has always attracted a strong following amongst serious collectors of early British art so I don't think this is really true. However, there is no doubt that he is deserving of far broader recognition and hopefully the current exhibition will go some way to achieving this.


This exhibition, previously shown in the U.S at Yale (and which goes on, at the end of the year, to Stuttgart), is very wide-ranging and includes a good many of Wilson's finest drawings. Whilst the emphasis is on his Italian classicism there are a number of paintings which will be of great appeal to those who are particularly interested in his Welsh views. Foremost amongst these are the two monumental landscapes (Llangollen & View near Wynnstay) painted for the coming-of-age of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, 4th bt, in 1770. As these have been in America since the 1980's, it is a very rare chance to see them. I am also happy to say that Wilson's very early and very fine portrait of John Jones of Pentre Mawr, which I rediscovered last year, has been lent by its new owner.


A superb catalogue replete with scholarly articles is available. This, together with Dr Spencer-Longhurst's forthcoming catalogue raisonee of Wilson's work (to be published by the Paul Mellon Centre for British Art towards the end of the year), should provide a tremendous boost to Wilson scholarship.


The Richard Wilson exhibition runs until 26 October 2014 and entry is free.