| Striking Artworks from the First National Theatre Era |
Theatre History |
| George Sheringham Painting the Mabinogion , Culture of Wales , June 26, 2025 |
The association of the visual arts with national theatre is not common. Curtis Holder exhibited large, and striking, pencil portraits of staff across the national theatre in London in 2023. More recently his portraits of Carlos Acosta have been exhibited at Birmingham's Art Gallery. A century ago the fledgling national theatre in Wales occasioned a sequence of paintings relating to the culture of Wales. The collection of six paintings can be seen in the summer exhibition at the Chris Beetles Gallery in the Saint James's district in London. The founding days of national theatre in Wales had a distinctive character; patronage and national sentiment merged in the figure of Thomas Evelyn Ellis (1880–1946). He became the 8th Baron Howard de Walden in 1899 and took the name of Scott-Ellis instead of Ellis. His role in theatre's history is told in “Y Theatr Genedlaethol yng Nghymru", edited by Hazel Walford Davies. The book, 226 pages and illustrated, was published by Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, Cardiff, in 2007. Professor Walford Davies wrote in 2014 about Scott-Ellis in Volume 14, pages 18-36, of the Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion. The company featured in Anwen Jones “National Theatres in Context: France, Germany, England and Wales” (Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, Cardiff 2007). * * * * The entries for Wicipedia and Wikipedia differ, the English version making no mention of the national theatre. “Roedd yn noddwr theatr a chelfyddyd ac yn awdur nifer o ddramâu. Ceisiodd, yn erbyn llawer o wrthwynebiad, sefydlu'r Theatr Genedlaethol gyntaf i Gymru. Roedd llawer o'r gwrthwynebiad tuag at y ‘Theatr Genedlaethol' yn deillio o gyhuddiadau o Seisnigrwydd y cwmni. Roedd yn llywydd yr Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yn Wrecsam yn 1933. “Roedd yn adnabod y cerddor Josef Holbrooke. Trodd at y rhamantau Arthuraidd am ddefnydd ei ddrama gyntaf; a defnyddiwyd peth o'i waith ar gyfer opera, gyda llęn-gwerin Cymru'n llinyn drwy'r cwbwl. Cyhoeddodd The Children of Don (1912), Pont Orewyn (1914), Lanval (1915), Song of Gwyn ap Nudd, Dylan (1919), The Cauldron of Annwn (1922), The Cauldron of Annwn including the story of Bronwen (1929) a The Five Pantomimes (1930). Yn 1904 cyhoeddodd Banners, standards, and badges from a Tudor mansion a Some Feudal lords and their seals. Yn 1924 perfformiwyd drama o'i eiddo a oedd yn delio gyda'r ymerawdr Heraclius, yn enwedig ei gysylltiad â Christionogaeth ag Islam.” And: “Howard de Walden was also an author, who produced several operas under the pseudonym of T. E. Ellis. Ellis approached composer Joseph Holbrooke with his "Dylan - Son of the Wave". his resulted in the composition of the opera "Dylan", first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, conducted by Artur Nikisch, on 4 July 1914. The staging included another technological wonder: "In this work, in order to get convincing flights of wild fowl, films were made in the Outer Hebrides and projected on to the stage. This, of course, was in the days of the silent film, when there was no means of deadening the whirr or hum of the projector and the films themselves resolved into a series of flicks. The scoring, however, was vivid enough to cover the sounds, and this incipient film music was infinitely more successful than some of the over-vaunted high-level scores heard to-day. “The theatre, however, was not ready for such an innovation, and the extra-musical effects were not taken seriously." Collaboration on two further operas, "The Children of Don" (first performed at the London Opera House, conducted by Arthur Nikisch, on 15 June 1912 - postponed from 12 June) and "Bronwen", brought about the completion of Holbrooke's most ambitious project, a trilogy under the collective title "The Cauldron of Annwn" setting Scott-Ellis' versions of tales from the Welsh "Mabinogion". “Until his death in 1946, Scott-Ellis effectively acted as patron to Holbrooke, subsidising performances and publication of many of his works. His passion was to do with literature from the medieval period, especially Welsh literature. He participated in writing in the National Eisteddfod of Wales, in particular to do with the fables of the Mabinogion.” * * * * The involvement of De Walden in the visual arts is subject of an essay by Peter Lord in “Looking Out” (Parthian Books, Cardigan 2020 pages 140-197). William Evans, a mid-Wales circuit judge, commissioned for his home a series of decorative panels by George Sheringham (1884-1937). Evans died in court in 1918; as a memorial his art collection was exhibited in London. The panels passed to Seaford House, the London home of Lord Howard de Walden. The gallery catalogue describes the artworks: "Firstly, the choice of subject exemplifies the fascination of artists, composers and writers with ancient myths and their role in culture, as led by the paradigm of Richard Wagner. Secondly, the style epitomises a sophisticated Orientalist approach to decoration, influenced by the French, and applied by such British-based artists as Conder, Dulac and Ricketts to surfaces large and small. The combination of the Celtic and the Oriental in Sheringham’s images suggest a parallel with those dramas of Yeats that present Irish myths through the form of Japanese Noh (dramas for which Dulac produced the designs). As such, they are a particularly fascinating contribution to European symbolism." The media and dimensions of the artworks are: “Playing Music”, signed, watercolour with bodycolour and gold paint on silk 58 x 22 1/2 inches; “Baptism of Dylan, Son of the Wave”, signed, watercolour with bodycolour and gold paint on silk 22 1/2 x 58 inches; “The Tale of Kynon, the Son of Clydno when King Arthur was at Caerllan upon Usk”, signed, watercolour with bodycolour and gold paint on silk 51 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches, “Branwen”, signed, watercolour with bodycolour and gold paint on silk 58 x 22 1/2 inches. “Peredur and the Serpent of the Mount of Morning”, signed, watercolour with bodycolour and gold paint on silk 51 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches, “A Dragon Passing over Travellers”, signed, watercolour with bodycolour and gold paint on silk 21 1/2 x 45 inches (lunette). The exhibition continues until 30th August 2025. https://chrisbeetles.com/exhibition/337/chris-beetles-summer-show-2025 The artworks are being sold as a group. Enquiries at https://chrisbeetles.com/contact-us#contact-anchor. Illustration with permission of Chris Beetles Gallery. A guide to the sequence "Theatre History" can be seen in the first link below. |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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