Iconic city gallery celebrates 60 years of championing Welsh art

Cardiff's Albany Gallery turns 60 this month, and to celebrate, TV presenter Arfon Haines-Davies is opening a major exhibition of work by artists who have shaped the gallery's story and the story of art in Wales. He told Jenny White why the gallery deserves to remain in the frame

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Sir Kyffin Williams at the Albany Gallery in 2002

(Andrew James)

CARDIFF'S Albany Gallery - widely seen as a cornerstone of visual art in Wales - celebrates its 60th anniversary this month with an exhibition of work by its leading artists.

The show opens at 5pm this Friday with a talk by television presenter and art lover Arfon Haines-Davies, Welsh Art Ambassador for Rogers Jones auctioneers and a friend of the late Sir Kyffin Williams, who was the gallery's leading artist for decades until his death in 2006.

Williams' work was highly sought after in his lifetime and continues to appreciate in value, with larger originals often fetching tens of thousands of pounds. Albany Gallery founder Mary Yapp was his Welsh agent, and was highly instrumental in supporting his career, which saw him become an icon of Welsh art whose palette-knife style was copied by many.