Country House Living...

A weekend jaunt into Mid-Wales facilitated an unexpected encounter with some rather fine art, of an early 20th century vintage & being the personal collection of the late Sir Bernard Ashley, as hung on various of the walls of Llangoed Hall.

How pleasant it was to encounter, over the fireplace of the Drawing Room, whilst enjoying a welcome pot of tea after the journey, & have the opportunity to study & admire a landscape (above) by FCB Cadell (one assumes of Iona, given the similarity of the depicted scene to others painted in the same location by the artist) & discovering in the Games Room during a later stroll around the house, a portrait of a rather dandy top-hatted gentleman (below) by another of the so-called 'Scottish Colourists', JD Fergusson.

Also to be seen were a number of drawings, including an Augustus John nude study (below) &, although they were inaccessible due to an event, alas, a suite numbering over 20 by Whistler.

There was also work by familiar names such as Sickert, Harold Gilman, & Laura Knight, & a collection of fine oil portraits in that painterly ‘Sargentesque’ Edwardian style, including, below, this dark study of a life-sized gentleman, by Hermann Murphy, hanging on the wall by the door to A’s & my room – all in all, a most aesthetic treat.