Margaret Davies
Encyclopedia
Margaret Sidney Davies was a Welsh
art collector and patron of the arts. With her sister Gwendoline
, she bequeathed a total of 260 works, particularly strong in Impressionist and 20th-century art, which formed the basis of the present-day National Museum Wales
' international collection. The sisters started the Gregynog Press
in 1922 and the Gregynog Music Festival
in 1933.
and educated at Highfield School in Hendon. They and their brother David Davies, 1st Baron Davies
, were the children of Edward Davies, the only son of David Davies Llandinam, an industrialist and philanthropist
.
and other contemporary artists. She started the collection in 1906 with her purchase of a painting by Hercules Brabazon Brabazon
. By 1913, the two sisters had accumulated enough paintings to host an exhibition at Cardiff City Hall.
During the First World War
, the Davies sisters worked as volunteers for the French Red Cross, as they had already travelled extensively in France. They offered asylum
in Wales during the war to the Belgian artists George Minne
, Valerius de Saedeleer and Gustave van de Woestyne.
In the early 1920s, they moved into Gregynog
Hall at Newtown, Montgomeryshire. In 1922, they founded the Gregynog Press
, publishing fine limited editions of works in English and Welsh.
From 1933 to 1938, they sponsored the Gregynog Music Festival
at their estate, an annual 3-4 day affair directed by Henry Walford Davies
that included poetry readings. The festivals played host to important composers and other musical figures of the period, including Ralph Vaughan Williams
, Edward Elgar
, Gustav Holst
, "the conductor Adrian Boult
, and the poet Lascelles Abercrombie
; and performers including Jelly d'Arányi
and the Rothschild Quartet
."
The festival ended during the build-up to the Second World War
. It was revived during 1955-1961 by the composer Ian Parrott
, Gregynog Professor of Music at Aberystwyth
for more than 30 years. The festival was revived again in 1988 by the tenor Anthony Rolfe Johnson
. Since 2006, it has been directed by the music historian and broadcaster, Rhian Davies.
In 1960, some years after her sister's death in 1951, Margaret Davies donated Gregynog to the University of Wales
for use as an arts centre. Margaret died in London, and her ashes were buried along with her sister's at their birthplace of Llandinam.
They bequeathed their collection of paintings and sculptures, which Margaret had expanded after Gwen's death, to the National Museum of Wales. The total of 260 works of painting and sculpture formed the nucleus of its art collection, particularly for international art. It has been called "one of the great British art collections of the 20th century".
In 1967, The Davies Memorial Gallery was built in Newtown, Powys, with a legacy left by the Davies sisters. More recently, in 2003, after major redevelopment and merging with "Oriel 31", the Gallery re-opened as Oriel Davies Gallery named in honour of the sisters.
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
art collector and patron of the arts. With her sister Gwendoline
Gwendoline Davies
Gwendoline Elizabeth Davies, CH , was a granddaughter of the philanthropist David Davies Llandinam. Together with her sister Margaret, she is remembered as a patron of the arts in Wales and important collector of Impressionist and 20th-century art...
, she bequeathed a total of 260 works, particularly strong in Impressionist and 20th-century art, which formed the basis of the present-day National Museum Wales
National Museum Wales
Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales, formerly the National Museums and Galleries of Wales, comprises eight museums in Wales:* National Museum Cardiff* St Fagans: National History Museum, Cardiff* Big Pit National Coal Museum, Blaenavon...
' international collection. The sisters started the Gregynog Press
Gregynog Press
The Gregynog Press, also known as Gwasg Gregynog, is a printing press and charity in Wales.Founded in 1922 by the sisters and art patrons Margaret and Gwendoline Davies, the press was named after their mansion Gregynog Hall. It rose to prominence in the pre-war era as among the more important...
in 1922 and the Gregynog Music Festival
Gregynog Music Festival
thumb|alt=The Music Room, Gregynog|The Music Room, GregynogGregynog Festival, or Gŵyl Gregynog in Welsh, is the oldest extant classical music festival in Wales and takes place each summer at Gregynog Hall in the village of Tregynon, near Newtown, Powys, mid-Wales.In its present form, Gregynog...
in 1933.
Early life and education
Like her sister Gwen, Margaret was born at LlandinamLlandinam
Llandinam is village in Powys, central Wales, between Newtown and Llanidloes, located on the A470.Llandinam was the family home of David Davies who was responsible for much of the development of the South Wales Valleys and the export of coal in the 19th century...
and educated at Highfield School in Hendon. They and their brother David Davies, 1st Baron Davies
David Davies, 1st Baron Davies
David Davies, 1st Baron Davies , was a politician and public benefactor, the grandson of the famous industrialist, David Davies "Llandinam"....
, were the children of Edward Davies, the only son of David Davies Llandinam, an industrialist and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
.
Patron of the arts
An amateur painter, Margaret shared Gwen's passion for collecting works by the ImpressionistsImpressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
and other contemporary artists. She started the collection in 1906 with her purchase of a painting by Hercules Brabazon Brabazon
Hercules Brabazon Brabazon
Hercules Brabazon Brabazon was an English artist, accomplished in Turner manner watercolours....
. By 1913, the two sisters had accumulated enough paintings to host an exhibition at Cardiff City Hall.
During the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Davies sisters worked as volunteers for the French Red Cross, as they had already travelled extensively in France. They offered asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
in Wales during the war to the Belgian artists George Minne
George Minne
George Minne was born in Ghent as the son of an architect . Birth names : Georgius Joannes Leonardus...
, Valerius de Saedeleer and Gustave van de Woestyne.
In the early 1920s, they moved into Gregynog
Gregynog
Gregynog is a large country hall in the village of Tregynon, 4 miles northwest of Newtown in Powys, mid-Wales. Various halls have occupied the site since the twelfth century and it was the ancestral home of the Blayneys and the Traceys from the fifteenth century...
Hall at Newtown, Montgomeryshire. In 1922, they founded the Gregynog Press
Gregynog Press
The Gregynog Press, also known as Gwasg Gregynog, is a printing press and charity in Wales.Founded in 1922 by the sisters and art patrons Margaret and Gwendoline Davies, the press was named after their mansion Gregynog Hall. It rose to prominence in the pre-war era as among the more important...
, publishing fine limited editions of works in English and Welsh.
From 1933 to 1938, they sponsored the Gregynog Music Festival
Gregynog Music Festival
thumb|alt=The Music Room, Gregynog|The Music Room, GregynogGregynog Festival, or Gŵyl Gregynog in Welsh, is the oldest extant classical music festival in Wales and takes place each summer at Gregynog Hall in the village of Tregynon, near Newtown, Powys, mid-Wales.In its present form, Gregynog...
at their estate, an annual 3-4 day affair directed by Henry Walford Davies
Henry Walford Davies
Sir Henry Walford Davies KCVO OBE was a British composer, who held the title Master of the King's Musick from 1934 until 1941.-Early life and education:...
that included poetry readings. The festivals played host to important composers and other musical figures of the period, including Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
, Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
, Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
, "the conductor Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
, and the poet Lascelles Abercrombie
Lascelles Abercrombie
Lascelles Abercrombie was a British poet and literary critic, one of the "Dymock poets"...
; and performers including Jelly d'Arányi
Jelly d'Arányi
Jelly d'Aranyi, fully Jelly Aranyi de Hunyadvár was a Hungarian violinist who made her home in London.She born in Budapest, the grand-niece of Joseph Joachim, and sister of the violinist Adila Fachiri. She began her studies as a pianist, but switched to violin at the Music Academy in Budapest...
and the Rothschild Quartet
Kolisch Quartet
The Kolisch Quartet was a string quartet musical ensemble founded in Vienna, originally as the New Vienna String Quartet for the performance of Schoenberg's works, and settling to the form in which it was later known. It had a worldwide reputation and made several recordings...
."
The festival ended during the build-up to the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was revived during 1955-1961 by the composer Ian Parrott
Ian Parrott
Ian Parrott , who retired from the Gregynog Chair of Music at Aberystwyth in 1983, is a prolific Anglo-Welsh composer and writer on music. His distinctions include the first prize of the Royal Philharmonic Society for his symphonic poem Luxor, and commissions by the BBC and Yale University, and for...
, Gregynog Professor of Music at Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
for more than 30 years. The festival was revived again in 1988 by the tenor Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Anthony Rolfe Johnson, CBE was an English operatic tenor.-Life and career:Born in Tackley in Oxfordshire, Rolfe Johnson studied with Ellis Keeler and Vera Rosza at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He first appeared in opera in the chorus and in small roles at the Glyndebourne Festival...
. Since 2006, it has been directed by the music historian and broadcaster, Rhian Davies.
In 1960, some years after her sister's death in 1951, Margaret Davies donated Gregynog to the University of Wales
University of Wales
The University of Wales was a confederal university founded in 1893. It had accredited institutions throughout Wales, and formerly accredited courses in Britain and abroad, with over 100,000 students, but in October 2011, after a number of scandals, it withdrew all accreditation, and it was...
for use as an arts centre. Margaret died in London, and her ashes were buried along with her sister's at their birthplace of Llandinam.
They bequeathed their collection of paintings and sculptures, which Margaret had expanded after Gwen's death, to the National Museum of Wales. The total of 260 works of painting and sculpture formed the nucleus of its art collection, particularly for international art. It has been called "one of the great British art collections of the 20th century".
In 1967, The Davies Memorial Gallery was built in Newtown, Powys, with a legacy left by the Davies sisters. More recently, in 2003, after major redevelopment and merging with "Oriel 31", the Gallery re-opened as Oriel Davies Gallery named in honour of the sisters.
Legacy and honours
- 1960, Gregynog donated to the University of Wales as an arts centre.
- 1953 and 1961, bequeathed collections of total of 260 works to the National Museum Wales.
- 1967, the Davies Memorial Gallery built in Newtown, Powys; now known as Oreil Davies Gallery.
- 1988, revival of Gregynog Festival.