A new film uncovers the extraordinary story of how the legacy of a Cardiff chartered surveyor has shaped the national collection of modern and contemporary art for Wales. Click here to watch.
When Derek Williams died in 1984 at the age of just 59, he left behind an art collection which surprised even those closest to him. Over the preceding twenty years he had amassed over seventy works of modern British art, including pieces by figures including Ben Nicholson, Lucian Freud, LS Lowry, John Piper and Henry Moore.
Derek’s will entrusted his legacy to four people – his accountant, his secretary, his lawyer and his golf partner. With no formal art knowledge between them, they embarked on the daunting task of carrying out his final wishes: to find a home for the collection and use the financial legacy to foster public engagement with art. In 1993 the Derek Williams Trust was formed, and in partnership with Amgueddfa Cymru has become one of the cornerstones of modern and contemporary art in Wales.
Since the Trust’s tentative but bold first purchase, Michael Andrews’ The Cathedral, the Southern Faces/Uluru (1987) almost thirty-five years ago, the original Trustees continue to work with Amgueddfa Cymru to develop the collection. The Derek Williams Trust collection now numbers over 350 works of modern and contemporary fine art and ceramics from Giorgio Morandi and Lucie Rie to Katie Paterson and Paula Rego, all on long term loan to the national museum.
In addition, the Trust has helped Amgueddfa Cymru acquire over 360 major works of modern and contemporary art for Wales – including work by John Akomfrah, Rachel Whiteread, Frank Bowling and James Turrell; including most recently the Artes Mundi Purchase Prize through which the museum has been able to regularly acquire major works of international contemporary art, including pieces by Ragnar Kjartannsson, Tania Bruguera and Berni Searle.
Back in 1984, this group of ‘musketeers’ had no idea how far-reaching Derek’s legacy would become or how it would change their own lives. As Derek’s secretary Joan Winter, says: ‘…when you venture out and take a little bit of you, you learn as you go… and we don’t intend giving up.’
Image top right: Joan Winter and Howard Evans remember Derek Williams and the early days of the Trust
Above: Michael Andrews, The Cathedral, the Southern Faces/Uluru (1987) © The Estate of Michael Andrews/Tate Images
Above: Derek Williams © The Derek Williams Trust
