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Julian Bream Donates Art Collection to Royal Welsh College

Renowned Guitarist Donates Personal Art Collection to Royal Welsh College

Julian Bream, world-revered classical guitarist, has donated his personal art collection to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. This extraordinary glimpse into the private thoughts and life of such a celebrated musician can be viewed in RWCMD’s Weston Gallery Recital Room during public performances.

“Julian Bream is perhaps the most celebrated guitarist alive. He is a living legend.”John Mills, Head of Guitar Studies at RWCMD.

The decision to donate the collections to RWCMD was made around three years ago when Breams visited the College and “saw some very nice walls that were not adorned with anything.” The College commissioned the restoration of the paintings and, with the help of Peter Goodridge of the National Museum of Wales, they were professionally hung and lit in the Weston Gallery of the Anthony Hopkins Building.

The collection comprises works personal to the musician such as a portrait of Bream by Derek Hill and one of his favourite dog, Casper by Jill Tweed. A number of paintings are by some of the most prolific Scottish artists of the 19^th and 20^th Centuries such as William McTaggart and David Gauld. Other featured artists include Sydney Nolan, Walter Richard Sickert, Elizabeth Frink and Bream’s own brother, Anthony Bream. The paintings are predominantly landscapes from the beginning of the impressionistic period, and portray a serenity typical of this style.

The exhibition brings a new visual aspect to the many musical performances that take place in the Weston Gallery and it has even been suggested that the paintings may have improved the acoustics of the room.

Hilary Boulding, Principal of RWCMD, described the donation of the paintings to the College as, “Wonderful… An extraordinary and generous gift.”

Julian Bream was born in 1933. During the war he was evacuated to a “wild farm” in Shropshire where he fell in love with country life. On his eleventh birthday he was given a classical guitar by his father, and, at the age of thirteen, made his debut recital to much acclaim. Bream went on to become internationally renowned, working with the likes of Andrés Segovia, John Williams and Benjamin Britten.

Julian Bream comments on the collection, “… they have a stillness, they are reflective. I suppose this is part of my temperament as a musician, I am reflective… They have been in my home for years and now they have a new home which pleases me no end.”