A Ruthin Artist who Should be Better Known

Edward Pugh was born in Well Street, Ruthin, and died there in 1813; he spent much of his career in London, but resurned here regularly to see his mother, and was buried in St Peter’s Churchyard. Yet, few people, even in his own home town, even know of his existence, let alone his work. Professor Paul Barrell of York University hopes to chnage all that. He has written, “There were plenty of English artists touring Wales in the the alte 18th and 19th centuries, but  Pugh was unique, for he was a native Welsh speaker and was able therefore to visit landscapes well off the track track beaten by other artists. His ability to converse with the inhabitants of out-of-the- way places meant that his  landscapes demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of Welsh localities far beyond what his English contemporaries could claim. Two of his pictures will be of special interest to us here; the first depicts the view looking back from Llanfwrog across Ruthin to Llanbedr DC; the second is of Coedmarchan, at the south end of what is now the Ruthin/Pwllglas golf course. Other pictures are also very interesting—but we will save description of them until a later occasion. Professor Barrell, who has already made several

visits to Ruthin, told us that he hopes to write a book about Edward Pugh, to work with local people towards an exhibition of his work in 2013, and to erect display boards in the places from which Pugh created his pictures. These are early days. The project will be refined and approaches made for money to mount the project. But the Civic Association has already made clear its desire to work with John Barrell on what promises to be a most interesting project.

In July 2009, DEREK JONES was introduced to Edward Pugh