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Historian Peter Lord has written the first account of the history of Welsh art for over half a century.

In The Tradition: A New History of Welsh Art, he has surveyed the evolution of the visual culture of Wales from the Renaissance to the end of the 20th century in one single-volume history.

Written for anyone with an interest in the art and history of Wales, the volume illustrates some 400 landscapes and portrait paintings, prints and sculptures.

Peter Lord, the foremost art historian in Wales, describes both how the work emerged from its Welsh historical context and was related to the art of other culture.

And he reveals many of the discoveries made since the first publication of The Visual Culture of Wales series back in 1998.

Wynn Thomas, from Swansea University, said: “This authoritative study is brimful of intriguing examples.

“The rise of personal portraits was triggered by the Puritan prohibition on religious images; landscape art evolved out of the display culture of an aristocracy keen to have its lavish holdings in land advertised in the panoramic rural backgrounds of grand, family portraits; shifts in social taste facilitated the elevation of humble artisan to the dignity of the artist.

“As for Wales itself, visual art provides us with a riveting record of its serial transformations of identity. Different regions of Wales figure large in the story from time to time. Between the two world wars, the Swansea area produced a remarkable crop of talent in the context of which Dylan Thomas’ work might be profitably reviewed.

Read: Major collection of Snowdonia works by artist John Piper on show in North Wales

“Immediately after World War II it was the turn of Cardiff and its feeder valleys to become the cradle of talent, shortly before an increasingly institutionalised and state-sponsored ‘art scene’ turned its face away from representational images and towards the ‘international style’ of abstract expression.

“The invaluable book should be regarded as his gift to the Welsh people. In teaching us how to read ‘the language of images’ he has enabled us to situate ourselves much more securely in our own distinctive history as a nation.”

The author, who lives in Ceredigion, said he wanted to create a readily accessible book that describes Wales’ visual culture to it own people.

He said: “I have tried to write it in a straight-forward way, not just for specialists in the field but anyone with an interest in Wales and in art.”

The book is published by Parthian Books, priced £35.

Read:

To coincide with the launch of the book there will be an illustrated lecture at the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, on March 17 at 7pm; at Ruthin Craft centre on March 19 at 2.30pm and at Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, Llanbedrog near Pwllheli on March 20 at 2pm.

To coincide with the opening of the exhibition that Peter Lord is curating at Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw ‘A Brief Flowering: The Paintings of John Cyrlas Williams (1902 -1965).