A long awaited return visit to the art gallery in Cardiff. Main highlights of the collection are the Impressionist and Post impressionist works collected by two sisters, Gwendoline and Margaret Davies. Painting in Wales is obviously well represented while early galleries house works from Italy and the Netherlands from the period 1500-1700. Art in Britain and Europe from 1900 onwards is also a feature.
Stanley Spencer's Souvenir of Switzerland was an unexpected find. Spencer's interest in the place of religion in daily life dominates this triptych. On a similar theme are Breton Peasant Women at Mass by Armand Seguin and Mass for the Reapers painted in Tivoli by Penry Williams.
The Choir of the Capuchin Church, Rome by Francois-Marius Granet was intriguing. The artist, a Frenchman living in Rome, regretted the dissolution of the monasteries and sought to capture the serenity of these former places of worship. The label in the gallery notes that the work, which exists in several forms, became a seminal work in the Catholic Revival. Gwen John's Mere Poussepin seated at a table also caught my attention as a piece that is linked with the artist's conversion to Catholicism in 1913.
Other points of interest were scenes from the Passion narrative. David Jones' Jesus Mocked, The Disrobing of Christ from the workshop of El Greco and Il Guernico's The Agony in the Garden. Different places and different times each opening a window on the faith of those by or for whom they were created.
