Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea
Mon 8 May-Mon 28 Aug
Throughout time, people have been fleeing conflict and war, and Wales has been a welcoming beacon. The realist painter Josef Herman was born into a poor Jewish family and with his father being a cobbler, the theme of manual labour always resonated with him. Leaving Poland because of anti-Semitic persecution, Herman, sought shelter in the UK during WWII, eventually settling in Ystradgynlais for more than 10 years.
The close-knit coal-mining community made him feel welcome. The émigré acquired the affectionate nickname ‘Joe Bach’ for his small stature and as an endearment. Herman loved observing working people – including fishermen and grape pickers – but he became most acclaimed for his studies of coal miners.
In 1951, Herman was commissioned to paint a mural for the Festival of Britain. The six-panel piece is entitled Miners, which is in the permanent collection and on display here; it depicts six men resting above ground after their shift, the scale of the painting shows Herman’s deep respect for them and their dignity. He said of this work “I think it is one of my key pictures and the most important one I did in Wales.” In 1962, he won the gold medal for art at the National Eisteddfod; in 1981, he was awarded an OBE for his services to British Art and was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1990.
Alan Holland and Bryan Halliday are local aficionados of the artist. “He was able to capture a culture that was diminishing, the essence of their life and his affinity with them,” says Holland. Halliday thinks Herman “presented [the people and miners] honestly, with a degree of compassion. No frills.” With his representational style Herman concentrated on shape and form. His paintings, rich in rusts, orange, brown, gold and red, show his affinity with masters he admired: Rembrandt, Caravaggio and Goya.
John Upton, former Education Officer at GVAG has written “Although often dark, his paintings have a warm glow to them and this is achieved by underpainting light, bright colour then building up slowly with darker tones so that the life of the picture radiates from within.”
Admission: free. Info: 01792 516900 / www.glynnviviangallery.org
words RHONDA LEE REALI