The National Museum Wales is pleased to announce that it has recently acquired two eighteenth century pastel portraits of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, 4th Baronet and his wife Charlotte Willams Wynn by the Irish artist Hugh Douglas Hamilton. The acquisition was made possible through a £25,000 (pro rata-ed) grant from The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity.
The two portraits are of the highest quality and their addition to the collections at Amgueddfa Cymru adds significantly, both to the holdings of works related to the Williams Wynn family and to the Museum’s National Portrait collection. They are also the first works in the collection by the significant eighteenth century artist Hugh Douglas Hamilton.
Beth McIntyre, Curator, Prints and Drawings, Amgueddfa Cymru said: “They are fine examples of his delicate technique capturing a true likeness of the sitters as well as their characters.”
Andrew Macdonald, Acting Director of The Art Fund said: “These two oval portraits, kept in their original frames, celebrate the lives of two generous patrons of the arts and are a fitting addition to National Museum Wales’ permanent collection. They will make a subtle pairing with the Sir Joshua Reynolds portrait Charlotte Grenville, wife of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn and her children (1777 – 1779) also in the National Museum Wales collection, acquired with The Art Fund’s help in 1998.”
The works will mainly be displayed within the newly refurbished eighteenth century gallery at National Museum Cardiff, and will also be available for viewing when not on display in the Prints and Drawings Study room.
Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales aims to acquire works reflecting the history of patronage and collecting in Wales. These exquisite works offer a more vivid and intimate picture of the Williams Wynns, to complement the grand paintings by Joshua Reynolds and Pompeo Batoni already in the collection.
Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales operates seven national museums across Wales. These are National Museum Cardiff, St Fagans: National History Museum, National Roman Legion Museum, Caerleon, Big Pit: National Coal Museum, Blaenafon, National Wool Museum, Dre-fach Felindre, National Slate Museum, Llanberis, and the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea.
Entry to all national museums is free thanks to the support of the Welsh Assembly Government.
http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/
Image: Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1739 – 1808), Portrait of Charlotte Williams Wynn (1754-1830)
