Yn wreiddiol, roeddem ni am gynnal yr arddangosfa hon yn Amgueddfa Genedlaethol y Glannau rhwng 28 Mawrth a 28 Mehefin 2020.
Rydym yn Amgueddfa Cymru yn falch iawn o’n gwaith gydag Ysgol Pen-y-Bryn, felly oherwydd y sefyllfa bresennol, rydym wedi penderfynu rhannu’r arddangosfa â chi ar-lein.
Mae’r arddangosfa’n dathlu partneriaeth ddeng mlynedd Amgueddfa Genedlaethol y Glannau ag Ysgol Pen-y-Bryn, gan ddangos uchafbwyntiau eu projectau gwych o’r gorffennol. O sêr Cymreig y cae rygbi i fôr-ladron, mae’r arddangosfa hon yn dathlu doniau disgyblion a staff yr ysgol. Mae cyfle hefyd i weld eu gwaith arloesol diweddaraf, sef creu adnoddau cyffrous i blant mewn ysgolion yn seiliedig ar y Cwricwlwm Cymreig Newydd.
Dyma ail flog sy’n cymryd cip ar waith Gwen John yng nghasgliad Amgueddfa Cymru. Yn y rhan gyntaf dyma ni’n trafod sut y daeth y casgliad mwyaf o waith Gwen i Gaerdydd ac yn cymryd cip ar ei thechneg gynnar.
Newidiodd y dechneg hon yn ddramatig wedi canol y 1910au. Canolbwyntiodd Gwen bron yn gyfangwbl ar bortreadau o fenywod, gan ddefnyddio paent yn ddarbodus iawn, heb haenau uwch na farnais. Does dim ymdrech i guddio’r brwswaith ac mae’r cyfosod yn fwy gwastad ond yn llai esmwyth. Gwelwn eto ymateb cyflym Gwen i’r gwynt celfyddydol wrth i artistiaid eraill Ewrop ddechrau defnyddio technegau tebyg.
Mae’n debyg bod Gwen John yn fwyaf adnabyddus am ei phortreadau. Ynddynt mae’n cyfleu rhyw naws annirnad sy’n llawn emosiwn. Yr hyn sy’n rhyfeddol am y gweithiau hyn yw cymhlethdod y cyfosod, a’r dechneg sy’n sylfaen i holl naws y gweithiau.
Ffordd dda o esbonio hyn yw i edrych ar waith anorffenedig…
Mae arddull wastad a harmoni tonyddol portreadau Gwen John yn destun cyffredin, gyda’r gwrthrych a’r cefndir yn aml yn asio’n un arwyneb. Yr hyn sy’n rhyfeddol am dechneg Gwen yw ei bod hi’n paentio o ymylon y cynfas, yn aml heb fraslunio ymlaen llaw. Byddai’n dechrau yng nghornel y gynfas ac yn paentio am i mewn, fel y gwelwn yma. Wrth gael ei baentio’n olaf (neu ddim o gwbwl yn yr achos hwn) daw’r wyneb yn ail bron i’r cyfosodiad. Bydd unrhyw artist yn gwerthfawrogi crefft mor rhyfeddol o anodd yw hyn, a’r ymwybyddiaeth ofodol i greu cyfanwaith wrth ddechrau ar yr ymylon. Mae hyn hefyd yn dwysáu’r teimlad fod y cefndir a’r gwrthrych yn un – nid yw’r ffigwr, yn enwedig yr wyneb, yn ddim pwysicach na gweddill y paentiad.
Ar gefn y gwaith hwn mae fersiwn arall o’r un portread, y tro hwn gyda’i dillad ac yn fwy cyflawn. Yma eto gwelwn taw’r wyneb yw’r rhan olaf bron i gael unrhyw sylw.
Fe ddychwelwn ni yn awr at Merch mewn Gwisg Las. Wedi 1915 dechreuodd gwaith Gwen John newid yn ddarmatig a dyma un o’r esiamplau cynharaf o’i thechneg sych. Mae hwn yn waith rhyfeddol sydd gyda’r mwyaf poblogaidd yn Amgueddfa Cymru.
Yma mae Gwen yn defnyddio grwnd o galch a glud anifeiliaid, sy’n cynhyrchu swigod bychan wrth i’r calch gymysgu â’r glud cynnes, i roi arwyneb garw i’r cynfas. Mae’r grwnd hwn a’r haenau olew dilynol i gyd wedi eu taenu’n sych a thenau iawn, heb ymdrech i guddio’r brwswaith.
Yn y manylyn yma gellir gweld nad yw’r paent brown wedi glynu at y grwnd gwyn ym mhob man. Mae’n ein hatgoffa o ffresco sy’n pylu, ac yn ychwanegu at gymeriad bregus y portread. Mae’r paent wedi’i daenu mor sych a chyson nes bod y cefndir a’r gwrthrych yn ymddangos fel un, ac yn toddi i’r arwyneb.
Mae edrych ar y paentiad dan olau gwahanol hefyd yn datgelu gwybodaeth ddiddorol hefyd.
Drwy daflu golau o’r ochr gallwn ni weld pa mor anwastad yw’r cynfas – gwahanol iawn i gynfas llyfn proffesiynol. Mae hyn bron yn sicr yn fwriadol, i ategu’r gwead cyfoethog.
Mae golau is-goch yn dangos ychydig o waith braslunio, yn amlinellu prif elfennau’r cyfosodiad cyn paentio.
O astudio’r gwaith dan olau uwch-fioled gwelwn fod Gwen wedi dychwelyd at y gwaith, gan wneud newidiadau gyda phaent gwyn yn cynnwys mwy o sinc sy’n ymddangos yn gliriach dan olau UV. Mae’r gwaith tacluso yma hefyd yn ysgafn iawn.
Ond dyma’r darganfyddiad mwyaf syfrdanol…
Drwy daflu golau o gefn y cynfas gallwn weld cyn lleied o baent sydd wedi ei ddefnyddio. Mae’n grefft ryfeddol bod Gwen wedi llwyddo i greu darlun mor deimladwy heb ddefnyddio fawr ddim paent o gwbl. Dyw’r paent braidd yno.
Yr Ystafell Fechan (1926)
Olew ar gynfas
Cymynrodd Gaynor Cemlyn-Jones, 2003
22.2 x 27.3 cm
Mae’r gwaith hwn o 1926 yn dangos ystafell yng nghartref Gwen yn un o faestrefi Paris, ac yn un o’r paentiadau a ddangoswyd yn unig arddangosfa unigol Gwen yn ystod ei bywyd. Gwelwn baled cyfyngedig, gyda gwanhaniaethau arlliw cynnil yn y cefndir a’r tebot yn ganolbwynt bychan yng nghanol y cynfas.
Wedi erchyllter y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf gwrthododd nifer o artistiaid syniadau avant-garde, gan ddychwelyd at arddulliau mwy traddodiadol. Cefnwyd er enghraifft ar Ddyfodoliaeth a Fortisiaeth gan fod y dechnoleg a’r awtomatiaeth a ddathlent cyn y rhyfel yn allweddol i’r gyflafan. Wrth ‘Ddychwelyd at y Drefn’ gwelwyd artistiaid fel Picasso a Braque yn troi o Giwbiaeth at ddulliau traddodiadol bron yn gyfangwbl. Cynyddodd poblogrwydd yr arddull Glasurol, ac o drefn a realaeth mewn paentio. Yn ei bywgraffiad o Gwen John, dywed Alicia Foster bod y gwaith yn gymhleth o’i ystyried dan faner ‘Dychwelyd at y Drefn’, ond mae Gwen yn cydgerdded â’r mudiad yn ei defnydd union a threfnus o liw, fel y gwelir yn Yr Ystafell Fechan.
Disgrifiodd Gwen sut y byddai’n defnyddio disg liw hynod gymhleth oedd yn nodi pob lliw a’i berthynas ag unrhyw liw neu arlliw arall. Datblygodd system nodiadau hefyd hefyd i fraslunio a chofnodi cyfosodiadau. Mae’r ‘cod’ hwn wedi bod yn hynod anodd ei ddatrys, ac mae gan ei nodiadau naws delynegol sydd, er ei brydferthwch, yn gwneud y gwaith ditectif yn anos fyth. Er enghraifft, pa liw fyddech chi’n ei ddyfalu yw ‘Gwawr caru’n ofer Ebrill ar y traeth liw nos’
Roedd gan Gwen system rifo yn ogystal â nodiadau lliw. Byddai’n creu brasluniau cyflym o bopeth – gwrthrychau yn ei hystafell ac ar ymweliadau, teithwyr ar y trên a cynulleidfa esglwys. Roedd y system rifo a’r nodiadau lliw yn ei galluogi i gofio lliwiau ac arlliwiau’r gwrthrychau y byddai’n eu cofnodi mewn pensil a siarcol.
Yn ddiweddarach byddai’n ailgreu ei darluniau mewn dyfrlliw, gouache neu olew, gan fireinio’r cyfosodiad a’r lliw.
Oddeutu 1913 trodd Gwen at Babyddiaeth. Byddai ei ffydd yn dod yn bwysig iawn iddi ac fe ddisgrifiodd ei hun fel ‘Artist bach Duw’. Addolwyr yn yr eglwys yw testun nifer o’i darluniau wedi hyn, yn aml i’w gweld o’r cefn neu’r ochr.
Yn Ffigwr yn yr Eglwys mae’r ffrog wedi’i lliwio â golchiad tenau o’r un lliw â’r het, ar gwallt yn gymysgedd o liw’r cefndir a’r het. Mae hyn yn allweddol i’r modd y byddai Gwen yn asio ei lliwiau. Nid yw symlrwydd o reidrwydd yn syml.
Gyda diolch i gydweithwyr Amgueddfa Cymru ddoe a heddiw am eu gwaith ymchwil trylwyr, yn enwedig David Fraser Jenkins, Beth McIntyre, Kate Lowry ac Oliver Fairclough. Mae bywgraffiad byr Alicia Foster, a gyhoeddwyd gan Tate, yn rhoi crynodeb drylwyr ac yn ailystyried elfennau pwysig o yrfa Gwen John.
We have definitely got closer as we deal with this difficult time. We have got to know neighbours we didn't even know. Every Thursday clapping for the NHS on our doorsteps has made us more of a community. My children have been face timing their friends, writing them letters and drawing them pictures as a way to keep in touch. It's been difficult not seeing family members but we have made sure they are safe and contact them.
The children have been fantastic considering the situation. They have adapted well to homeschooling. Talking is important and the children do ask questions, but I think being honest is best! They miss their friends and family as much as we all do, so regular contact via facetime etc is great! They understand why we must stay at home, but missing normality and just being active and going places and visiting. We have baked more as a family and made our own made pizzas, bread, cookies, cakes because we've had more time together.
It’s a very anxious time. I worry constantly for my family and friends. It's upsetting especially when can't see family and friends or visit. It can be heart breaking not being able to visit our nans, parents as they are shielding due to health reasons. I worry my children will fall behind in school and if I'm doing good with homeschooling. Emotions are like being on a rollercoaster.
No one fails to be impressed by the imposing stone building that is the Oakdale Institute. It was built in 1917, with a loan from the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company and which the miners repaid over the following years. There were no philanthropic Quaker businessmen, like Joseph Rowntree in York and George Cadbury in Bournville, to fund facilities for workers in South Wales.
As volunteers we explain the importance of the actual building but we wish it to be remembered as it was, a cultural centre for the mining community where they educated themselves and enjoyed social activities on a regular basis. We welcome visitors and over the past year have had people from many countries come in to the building from as far away as New Zealand and America.
We have had classes of school children with interesting questions and have endeavoured to bring the institute to life for them and, through stories and laughter, show them how the building was the centre of the community.
On the upper floor of the Institute is a large function room, with a sprung dance floor. One visitor we met used to live in Oakdale and recalled the room full and the floor shaking as he and his friends danced along to a live performance by Shakin’ Stevens - himself a Welshman, from Ely, Cardiff. The function room also houses a pianola, usually an object of curiosity to visitors. However, one visitor recounted how his family used to own a pianola at home, when he was a child. He and his brothers and sisters all contracted scarlet fever, a dangerous illness in the days before antibiotics. Fortunately they all survived but his parents threw the pianola and all the music rolls onto a bonfire, in case they remained sources of infection! The pianola can also be played, of course, as a piano and a visiting French student treated us to a Chopin étude. On another occasion, as the pianola played a dance tune, a couple of visitors spontaneously waltzed around the floor.
Downstairs the miners originally used the reading room, in their precious off duty time, to read newspapers and play card games and dominoes. Today there is a selection of games for children, instead, to play, although mums and dads not infrequently join in. Children wander in, with their parents telling them anxiously not to touch anything. Their reaction when they are told to choose a game is always heartwarming. We sometimes have opportunity to play the games with the children (they invariably win) and often have to explain the rules of forgotten board games to kids who are more familiar with Fortnite than draughts. It is a two way process, however and some have taught us new card games, such as Trash, which was most entertaining. The old fashioned games of snakes and ladders, Ludo, dominoes, draughts and magnetic fishing pool are still enjoyed, though. It is great, in school holiday times, to see a table full of children engrossed in winning their chosen game.
We’re looking forward to an end to the terrible coronavirus illness which is plaguing the world at this time. Oakdale survived Spanish Flu, to flourish again and we look forward to it being able to entertain visitors once again in the future.
I live with my 74 year old widowed mother… I fell badly on 7th May and have been off work with a bad ankle since then. Have mostly been resting my leg to recuperate; watching TV, reading and being online with my mobile phone. Just pottering.
It would usually be “business as usual” for me working shifts as a nurse. I plan to return to work very soon.
I’m a staff nurse (RNLD) and work in a NHS treatment and assessment unit for adults who have a learning disability. Six of our eight patients tested positive for Covid-19, so it was decided that our ward would become the Covid-19/red ward for the site. Two patients tested negative for Covid-19, so were transferred to another (amber) ward. We had to practice barrier nursing with full PPE, masks, face guards and remain vigilant about social distancing and hand washing at all times, where possible. Four of our patients sadly passed away between April 10th and May 8th. It was incredibly difficult and a huge loss to our staff team.
The poignancy of being part of the line-up of staff along the ward to say "goodbye" as the undertaker wheeled the deceased patient(s) past will always stay with me as we knew we wouldn't be able to attend their funerals due to restrictions.
Initially I was very worried, more for my mother than myself. Then trying to help my patients at work became a focus. I was terrified of bringing Covid-19 home to my mother as she has COPD and has been identified as someone who requires shielding. A few of my colleagues have been off self-isolating due to health shielding, and some others caught the virus, so staffing was provided by shuffling staff from other units or using bank staff. Some colleagues moved out of their homes to protect their families; staying in a large holiday home provided by the owners.
I wondered when it was going to be my turn to catch the virus? I told my mother I could try to find alternative accommodation for the duration of this crisis, but she wouldn't hear of it and preferred for things to continue as they were. I carried a lot of anticipated guilt for either possibly passing on the virus to her, or if I were to leave her to live elsewhere against her wishes.
I'm missing my closest friend terribly. We chat through messages or telephone calls, but it's really not the same.
