Oldfield-Davies, Alun, 1905-1988
Alun Oldfield-Davies (1905-1988) was born in Cheshire but was educated in Wales, having attended schools in the Rhondda and university at Aberystwyth. He embarked on a teaching career but also made frequent broadcasts in Welsh about current affairs. He joined the BBC in 1937 and was regional controller for Wales from 1945 to 1967. Outside his official work he was chairman of the Central Advisory Council for the Welsh Department of the Ministry of Information, president of the National Museum and of the Welsh Council for Education in World Citizenship, a member of the Welsh Arts Council and several other committees. He was made an honorary member of the Cymmrodorion and was awarded the CBE in 1955. His private interests included the life and works of the artist and writer, David Jones (1895-1974), with whom he was personally acquainted.
Ganymed Press -- Correspondence.
David Jones attended the Camberwell School of Art (where A. S. Hartrick was a teacher), 1910-1914, and the Westminster School of Art, 1919-1921. In 1921 he met Eric Gill and the following year moved to Ditchling to join his company of craftsmen, and made illustrations for St Dominic's Press. He painted landscapes, seascapes and interiors, and also became an illustrator employing wood and metal engraving.
In 1927 he became a member of the society of wood engravers, and also engraved illustrations for The Chester Play of the Deluge, published by the Golden Cockerel Press. In 1929 he was elected to the 'Seven and Five Society' of artists, and in the same year produced ten illustrations for Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. He produced watercolours until his breakdown in 1932, when he stopped painting until 1937. During the Second World War he created his painted inscriptions using letters in Welsh, Latin and English, and in the early 1940s he painted mythological watercolours. From his breakdown in 1947 onwards he painted from windows, mainly trees, girls and still-life. In 1961 he became a member of the Royal Watercolour Society.
He was represented in many art exhibitions, especially during the 1940s and 1950s, including the National Gallery (1940), Tate Gallery (1942), CEMA touring exhibition in Wales (1944), British Council touring exhibition (1945-46), Redfern gallery (1948), Festival of Britain (1951), Venice Biennale (1951), Brooklyn, USA (1951), Welsh Committee of the Arts Council of Great Britain touring exhibition in Wales (1954-55), and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (1962). He was represented in the Arts Council Great Britain touring exhibitions (1970 and 1971), the National Book League exhibition in London 'Word and image' (1972), and the Welsh Arts Council and National Museum of Wales touring exhibition, 'David Jones, writing and drawings' (1972-1973). In 1964 he was awarded the Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales gold medal.