Nicholas Holloway
Fine Art
This exquisitely detailed study of one Cedric Morris' iris varieties shows Morgan's first rate draughtsmanship and eye for the subtle gradations of colour and texture.
With thanks to Sarah Cook (holder of the National Collection of Irises bred by Cedric Morris) for her help in identifying this variety.
Glyn Morgan studied firstly at Cardiff School of Art 1942-1944 under Ceri Richards. However, it was in his home town of Pontypridd that he first met Cedric Morris who picked out his work from a local exhibition and ultimately signed him up for the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Benton End in 1944. It was the start of a long association with Benton End and Morris was to become a significant mentor and friend. He also studied at the Camberwell School of Art (1947/48) and in Paris as a member of the Society of Botanical Artists (1951). In 1968 he obtained a Goldsmiths' Company Fellowship award to work in Crete which kindled a lifelong fascination with Greece and its ancient mythology and inspired frequent visits. This interest is very much evidenced in his later work together with classical music and Welsh history.
He exhibited extensively in mixed and solo exhibitions at the Royal Academy, Leicester Galleries, Agnews and more recently at the Minories, Colchester and the Chappel Galleries. His work is held in public collections at the National Museum in Cardiff, The Newport Museum and Art Gallery and the Colchester and Ipswich Museum collection.
Morgan's reflections on his time at Benton End provide a vivid and most amusing account of his time there, as this snippet illustrates, "....there was wine with both meals and after lunch everyone but the most determined workers staggered upstairs to sleep....while Cedric often curled up in a flower bed."
Gwyneth Reynolds, 2002, Benton End Remembered
Other works by the artist: