William Wilkins, a monograph of drawings and paintings, publication Autumn 2014
The paintings of William Wilkins, one of Wales leading fine artists.
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William Wilkins CBE
Focusing upon the remarkable pointillist technique of the artist, this exhibition represents the long and celebrated career of the artist together with the slow maturation of his style.
William Wilkins was born in 1938. On his mother’s side, he is descended from the Physicians of Myddfai of Welsh legend and on his father’s side is the great great grandson of the architect of the National Gallery in London.
The work of William Wilkins is unique, both at the level of skill it displays and the length of time it occupies. Born of months, even years, of painstaking creation each picture exudes both artistry and joy; a celebration of perception which merits exposure to a wide audience.
Brought up in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, he trained at Swansea College of Art and the Royal College of Art, London. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he had a series of sensationally successful exhibitions in leading New York and London galleries.
The pictures themselves are accessible both in terms of content and composition and will therefore appeal to a wide audience of art lovers.
William was also the founder chairman of the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust, Project Director of National Botanic Garden of Wales, founder and former director of the Aberglasney Restoration Trust, and founder and chairman of the Artes Mundi Prize. He was awarded the CBE in 2003 for services to the environment.
About the book The author David Fraser Jenkins examines both the early work of the ‘70s and the most recent. The book looks at the changes in subject matter and the development of William’s distinctive post pointillist technique. David Moore, curator and writer, charts the artist’s career, both as an artist and as a cultural promoter involved in both contemporary projects including the Artes Mundi arts prize and heritage landmarks National Botanic Gardens and restoration projects of Aberglasney House and Gardens and Llanelli House. The large format book is illustrated with over 100 drawings and paintings in a hardback bound edition size 300 x 300mm, with essays by David Fraser Jenkins, David Moore and introduction by Geraint Talfan Davies. The book is published October 2014.