David Tress - In The British Isles

David Tress

In The British Isles

Locations in Wales, Devon, Cornwall, the Lakes, the Dales and in Scotland

October 2023

Front cover illustration: Penberi in Dark Gold detail

David Tress in his Haverfordwest studio

David Tress

In The British Isles

Locations in Wales, Devon, Cornwall, the Lakes, the Dales and in Scotland

Saturday, October 7th · 11.00am – 4.00pm

Sunday, October 8th · 11.00am – 3.00pm

The Exhibition continues through to Saturday, October 28th

Wednesday to Friday 10.30am – 4.30pm

Saturday 11.00am – 4.00pm

Paintings may be purchased on receipt of this catalogue

Telephone: 01608 652255

Email: gallery@johndaviesgallery.com

DAVID TRESS (b. 1955)

David Tress is an artist of significant achievement who has produced a widely admired, highly individual, expressive, and powerful body of landscape paintings over the last thirty years. His work is characterised by a highly physical approach utilizing laid down layers of torn, heavy watercolour paper, providing him with a tactile surface, a surface with which the artist engages in an intense and extremely vigorous manner. He uses mixed media – paint, pastel, crayon and in the case of his monotone drawings, graphite.

Underlying his approach is a deep appreciation of the history and character of the Welsh, English and Scottish landscapes, although it is his home environment of Pembrokeshire on which he has concentrated most. Wherever he travels though, his priority is to seek out such landmarks as burial sites and locations of pilgrimage. Churches are very meaningful to him, and here he finds inspiration from both interior studies as well as exterior views. Still-life and figure studies have also featured in his output.

David Tress has been the subject of two Travelling Exhibitions: ‘David Tress; Drawings’ 2003 – 2005 starting at Brecon and showing at Newport, Birmingham, Aberystwyth, London and Fishguard. Then ‘Chasing Sublime Light’ 2008 – 2010 starting at MOMA Wales, then showing at Petworth House, West Sussex, Mold, Keswick, Worcester, The National Library of Wales, then Anglesey, Fishguard, Ayr in Scotland, Stowe School and finally Conwy.

Significant commissions include that of King Charles lll, then the Prince of Wales, for a painting of Llwynywermod, his house in Wales.

Works by David Tress in Public Collections include Clare Hall, Cambridge, The Glyn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, The Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London, The Museum of Modern Art, Wales, The National Library of Wales and Pallant House Art Gallery, Chichester.

John Davies October

2023

Caefai Gale

Mixed media, 42 x 59 cm £5,500

Towards St David’s Head. Stormy Day Graphite, 37 x 47 cm £2,400

Last Snow (Solva) Mixed media, 66 x 85 cm £8,300

Wales...

Clegyr Boia in Dark Gold Mixed media, 30 x 39 cm £3,500

Penberi in Dark Gold Mixed media, 29 x 39 cm £3,500

Last Snow, Preseli, February Mixed media, 31 x 40 cm £3,850

Last Snow (Preseli) Mixed media, 37 x 49 cm £4,500

Wales...

Spring Softly on the Land (Garn Fawr) Mixed media, 30 x 43 cm

£3,850

Spring coming on Pencaer Mixed media, 30 x 39 cm £3,850

Blackthorn and Y Garn Mixed media, 40 x 59 cm £5,500

Carn Llidi. March

Mixed media, 31 x 41 cm £3,850

Trefeiddan Moor, March

Mixed media, 32 x 40 cm £3,850

Land and Sea (St Non’s, Pembrokeshire) Mixed media, 50 x 68 cm £6,250

Big Green (From Shilstone Tor, Dartmoor) Mixed media, 43 x 48 cm £4,500

A Rainy Day (Moretonhampstead) Mixed media, 38 x 47 cm £4,500

Cumulus, Early Sun. North Bovey Mixed media, 52 x 62 cm £6,000

Land (Bolatherick, Bodmin Moor) Mixed media, 51 x 66 cm £6,250

Churchtown (Zennor) II Mixed media, 61 x 87 cm £9,840

The Yorkshire Dales

Near Settle, Big Sky Mixed media, 39 x 58 cm £5,250

Moor Edge (Allendale Common) Mixed media, 43 x 61 cm £5,250

Cumbria

Eskdale Graphite, 30 x 39 cm £1,850

Teesdale

Green Teesdale Mixed media, 64 x 109 cm £11,400

The Lakes

Ullswater. To the South West I Mixed media, 31 x 46 cm £4,000

Ullswater. To the South West II Mixed media, 33 x 44 cm £4,000

Light from the West. Sgurr A’Ghaiochain Graphite, 30 x 39 cm £1,850

Burst of Light Beinn Bhan Graphite, 42 x 59 cm £2,850

Day Ending (Last Sun, Beinn Bhan)

Mixed media, 61 x 82 cm £9,600

Wales...

Autumn Breathing Winter

Mixed media, 51 x 64 cm

£6,000

The Land, Winter Mixed media, 38 x 52 cm £4,850

Wales...

Mixed

Mixed media, 30 x 39 cm £3,850

The Time of the Elderflower Mixed media, 30 x 39 cm £3,850

May Green

media, 30 x 39 cm £3,850

May Rain

Earliest Spring Mixed media, 58 x 59 cm £6,250

Wales...

David Tress

1955 Born London Harrow College of Art

Trent Polytechnic

1976 Moved to Wales, taught History of Art at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth

Solo Exhibitions

1982 Torch Theatre Gallery, Milford Haven

1987/90 Pauline Harries Gallery, Newport, Pembrokeshire

1988/92/99/2001 Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, Llanbedrog, Gwynedd

1991/94/

2000/02/04/06 West Wales Arts Centre, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire

1992 Salon d’Automne, Albi, France

1993/95/99/

2001/03/05 Albany Gallery, Cardiff

1994 Taliesin Arts Centre, University of Swansea

Winter, Blue at Evening

Mixed media, 38 x 48 cm

£4,850

November. A Damp Day

Mixed media, 32 x 39 cm

£3,850

1995/98/2001/

03/05/07/09/11 Boundary Gallery, London

Travelling exhibition commencing West Wales Arts Centre, Fishguard then to Royal Cambrian Academy

1997 Conwy and Albany Gallery, Cardiff

2001 Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea

2003 Museum of Modern Art, Wales

2003 David Tress, Drawings’. Travelling exhibition

2005 Denbighshire Arts, Travelling Exhibition

2005/07 Brian Sinfield Gallery, Burford

2006 Clwyd Theatre Cymru, Mold, Flintshire

2008-11 ‘Chasing Sublime Light’. Travelling exhibition, 2009/11/14/18 John Davies Gallery, Moreton-in-Marsh

2010 West Wales Arts Centre, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire

2010 Victoria Art Gallery, Bath. ‘Landmarks’

2011/14/16/18/20 Beaux Arts, Bath

2012/13/15-17/19 Messum’s, Cork Street, London

2019 Twenty Twenty Gallery, Ludlow

2019 Messum’s, Wiltshire

2020/22 Messums, St James’s, London

2021/23 Messums, Marlow

2021/23 John Davies Gallery, Moreton-in-Marsh

Group Exhibitions

1980-81 Oriel (Welsh Arts Council), Cardiff

1981-82 Royal Society of British Artists

1983-2007 Albany Gallery, Cardiff

1984 ‘Pembrokeshire Artist’, travelling exhibition organised by Pembrokeshire Museums

1984-2007 West Wales Arts Centre, Fishguard

1985-99 Pauline Harries Gallery, Newport, Pembrokeshire

1986 Fulham Gallery, London

1986-88 Pelter Sands Gallery, Bristol

1987-99/2003 Attic Gallery, Swansea

1988-95 Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, Llanbedrog, Gwynedd

1990 Cadogan Contemporary, Londo: Trumpington Gallery, Cambridge

1991 Vanessa Devereux Gallery, London

1993 Galerie Lughien, Amsterdam: Five Artists from Wales, Eleonore Austerer Gallery, San Francisco

1995-2007 Boundary Gallery, London

1998 Eigse Carlow Arts Festival, Republic of Ireland, invited artist

1998 ‘Landmarks’ National Museum of Wales

1999 ‘Mountain’, Wolverhampton Art Gallery

1999 British Library, London

2000 Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford, Republic of Ireland

2001 Museum of Modern Art, Wales

2002/08/10/12 Beaux Arts, Bath

2002 The National Eisteddfod of Wales

2003 Hereford City Art Gallery

2003/05 ‘The Discerning Eye’, London

2002/06/07/12 Brian Sinfield Gallery, Burford

2004 ‘Farming and Welsh Landscape’, travelling exhibition for the centenary of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society

2005 ‘Tir Lun, Drawing’, Oriel Myrddin Gallery, Carmarthen

2005 ‘Approaches to Landscape’, King’s School, Worcester

2005 ‘A Winter Journey’, Art Space Gallery, London

2006 Yvonne Arnaud Exhibition, Guildford

2006 ‘Different Worlds’, Brian Sinfield Gallery, Burford

2006 Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, Boundary Gallery, London

2006 ‘Landscape of Wales’, National Botanic Garden of Wales ‘Critic’s Choice’ an exhibition selected by Andrew Lambirth, Abergavenny

2008 ‘A Passion for Art’, The ’Friends of the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery

50th Anniversary Exhibition 2008 Pallant House, Chichester

2008/10 John Davies Gallery, Moreton-in-Marsh

2010 Eigse Carlow Arts Festival, Ireland. Retrospective

2011 Martin Tinney Gallery, Anglesey

2012 Messum’s, London

2016 ‘Romanticism in the Welsh Landscape’, MOMA Machynlleth

2016 ‘Face to Face: Portraits from the Andrew Lambirth Collection’: Gainsborough House Gallery, Sudbury

2018 ‘The Arborealists’, John Davies Gallery, Moreton-inMarsh

2018 ‘Of Yorkshire from Yorkshire, Ryedale Folk Museum

2019 ‘Romantics’…’What Romantic art might look like in the 21st Century, St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery, Lymington

2022 ‘Eye to Eye. Selected Works from the Lambirth Collection’, Djanogly Gallery, University of Nottingham

Commissions

In 2014 David Tress was commissioned by HRH The Prince of Wales to paint a picture of Llwynywermod, his house in Wales

Nature Conservancy Council

Development Board for Rural Wales, selector Peter Fuller

One of 48 British painters and designers commissioned by Royal Mail to design a stamp for the 1999 Millennium Stamp issue

Contemporary Art Society of Wales anniversary Print Portfolio, 2008

Paintings reproduced on book covers:

‘Frontiers in Anglo-Welsh Poetry’ by Tony Conran, Cardiff, University of Wales Press, 1997

Sacred Place, Chosen People’ by Dorian Llewelyn, Cardiff, University of Wales Press, 1999

‘Hen Dy Ffarm: The Old Farmhouse’ by D J Williams, Trans. Waldo Williams, Llandysul, Gomer Press,2001

‘Voyaging Out’ poems by Peter Abbs, Salt Publishing, 2009.

‘Moor Music’ by Mike Jenkins Seren, 2010

Principal Works in Public Collections

Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery: Ceredigion Museum: Clare Hall, Cambridge

The Contemporary Art Society for Wales: The Derek Williams Trust Collection, The National Museum of Wales

Dyfed County Council, County Hall Collection (now Carmarthenshire County Council)

The Glynn Vivian Art Gallery: The Guildhall Art Gallery, City of London

Day Ending (Last Sun, Beinn Bhan) detail

David Tress, St Non’s, Pembrokeshire in 2016