Cestyll yn y Cymylau
Until James Howard Beynon died in his home town of Aberdyddgu in 1993, nobody knew that the reclusive public-lavatory attendant and son of the local grocer was an artist of genius. Then a cousin clearing his house came across hundreds of drawings, all of towers, each work rich in architectural detail and emotional appeal. The first London exhibition devoted to these pictures, and the publication of the indispensable catalogue raisonne, suddenly bring Beynon extraordinary posthumous popularity and critical acclaim, spawning a vast range of merchandise from prints to mugs and teeshirts. Now another local resident has decided to write a critical biography of the artist, drawing on his unique knowledge of the local, Welsh-speaking community, to which the specialists from around the world have no access. This unnamed but undoubtedly cultured man, himself the owner of an unpublished drawing, guides the reader through every stage of Beynon's life and career, whilst providing a commentary on the extensive and varied, worldwide critical literature devoted to the artist, together with a select bibliography. Although this study and its brief introduction yield some information about the author, and his terminal illness, he remains almost as enigmatic as Beynon himself.
In his latest postmodern excursion to Aberdyddgu, 'the late' Mihangel Morgan himself plays an offstage role as author of a 'short, superficial' article in Welsh. Could this be why the author's features are concealed by what happens to be a lavatory cleaner's floor-brush in the cover photograph? Playful but deadpan, learned and seductively, dangerously convincing, Cestyll yn y Cymylau should bring a blush to every serious critic's and biographer's cheek. If John Howard Beynon did not exist, like God, he would have to be invented.
Cyfnewidfa Lên Cymru/Wales Literature Exchange