Ron Lawrence

April 25, 2013 4 Comments

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In Oriel y Bont, Pontypridd there’s a remarkable retrospective of the paintings, sculptures and photographs (and guitars!) of the Pontypridd artist Ron Lawrence. Ron has lived in the town all his life and this year celebrates 60 years of continuous work. The paintings vary enormously in style, from 1950s landscapes and portraits not far in style from Josef Herman to larger, more colourful and more playful canvases in the 1980s. For me the outstanding piece remains ‘The Rugby Match’ (1984), a view from his home of a game between Pontypridd and Cardiff, a pictures that encapsulates, in a series of concentric green circles, the essence of south Wales – the close mix of town and country, the role of sport as a community focus, and the many scattered figures playing and chatting as well as spectating.

But there many many other paintings of great interest, like ‘The Bandstand’ and ‘Ladies in the Park’, and the sharply political ‘Reflections’. Ron is also an accomplished black and white photographer, and there are several striking scenes of valleys life from the 1960s on.

Note (May 2023)

I was saddened to hear last week about Ron’s recent death.  By coincidence, the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery is currently showing two of Ron’s copper sculptures, Standing figure (undated; acquired 1982) and Standing figure (c.1960, acquired 1967).

Comments (4)

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  1. Alun Burge says:

    Excellent exhibition! Definitely worth a visit.

  2. Steve Powell says:

    We are fortunate to have a painting by Ron. Painted for his , late, old friend Bill Taylor. This great piece of art depicts a working pit head and winding gear. Now we believe the Rhondda Heritage Park.

  3. Didier Duriez says:

    I’m French, friend of Ron, played violon jazz with him in 1998, and also had the chance to make my fiddle with him.

    I’m sad to read his recent death, even if I knew he was being old…, could anyone who knows more about him and his family give me more informations ?

    Thanks in advance.

    Didier (+33 6 67 57 04 76)

    • Andrew Green says:

      Merci bien pour ce commentaire, Didier: je ne savais pas qui’il etait musicien de jazz! Malheureusement, je n’ai qu’un petit peu d’information sur sa vie.

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