大象传媒

Presenter Kim Howells with an Evan Walters expert discuss the merits of three of his portraits of real miners painted in 1926 and 1931. The first portrait 'The Welsh Collier (1926)' is of William Hopkin, a real person and a distant relative and friend of Walters, painted during the 'lock-out' of the 1926 miners' strike. This collier would not have been earning a wage at the time - he is not a well-looking man and has what could be described as a fierce look in his eyes. The second portrait, 'The Welsh Collier (1931)' is of another real person known to Walters, a collier at the end of a shift. They comment on how different he looks compared to the first portrait - a much more relaxed expression of a collier in work, with the distinctive pink lips and whites of the eyes accentuating the grime of the coal dust on his face. The third portrait, 'The Convalescent Miner', Howells suggests is possibly the most intriguing - with a thoughtful look, again not of a well-looking miner locked-out during the 1926 strike. These portraits show Walters's wonderful technique, quite different to what else was being painted in South Wales or even Britain at the time .