I am really intrigued and drawn to this post-modern social realist painting by the Welsh artist Claudia Williams.
Williams was born in Surrey in 1933 and in 1949 she entered the National Exhibition of Children's Art at the Royal Institute Galleries. Over 46,000 children entered the competition and the judges, headed by John Rothenstein (Director of The Tate Gallery) and Herbert Read (President of the Society for Education Through Art), were unanimous in their decision to give the principal award to Claudia Williams.
In 1984, she and her artist husband Gwilym Prichard, sold their home in Snowdonia and headed across Europe by car, for the island of Skiathos where they had the opportunity to look after a friend's dog, with free accommodation for the winter. After subsequently settling for a time in France, in 2001 they returned to Tenby.
Family life is an enduring theme for Claudia Williams. Her paintings are based on human relationships and figures in close proximity. She recognises and explores the limitations imposed by domestic circumstances and the domestic daily routines of women and children provide an opportunity for paintings that focus on social interaction. Williams has a particular sensibility towards the human condition which is combined with a sense of design, sensitive handling of colour and confident figure drawing. All this is evident in the painting illustrated here Children Reading, estimate £500-700 and to be sold on 23 April 2009 in Exeter.
Oil painting by Claudia Williams. Estimate £500-700.
