Following major restoration the oil painting ‘Vale of Nantgwylt 1891’ painted by Sir Alfred East R.A. has returned to the Radnorshire Museum in Llandrindod Wells.

The painting shows the Vale of Nantgwylt in the Elan Valley prior to the construction of the reservoirs and is a valuable record of a lost landscape.

The restoration costing in the region of £10,000 was funded by the Welsh Government through the Museums, Archives and Libraries Division, and the Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales. An additional £1,800 was provided by the Friends of the Radnorshire Museum.

The restored painting was unveiled at the museum on Saturday afternoon by Marcia Gibson Watt, the chairman of the Friends of the Radnorshire Museum, museum curator Will Adams and Powys county councillor Jon Williams.

Will said, “It’s wonderful to have this grand painting back in Radnorshire. The conservators have done a truly magnificent job and I am immensely grateful to all those whose generous support has enabled the restoration of this fine example of Radnorshire’s rich heritage. Thank you, it would not have been possible without your kind help.”

The restoration was carried out by the nationall renowned painting conservator Rachel Howells who lives in south Wales.

The painting was originally presented to Rhayader District Council by Mrs Brayshay of Laugharne in Carmarthenshire in September 1952. The painting then came into the possession of Powys County Council and will be on show at the Radnorshire Museum in Llandrindod Wells from Thursday, May 23.

‘Vale of Nantgwylt’ was painted by Sir Alfred East who was one of the most prominent modern English landscape painters. He received his art education first at the Glasgow School of Art and then in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Robert-Fleury and Bouguereau. His works can be found in many British museums and galleries and feature in major collections around the world. He achieved distinction as an etcher and published an instructive volume on landscape painting in 1906.

He was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1883 and in 1906 he became president of the Royal Society of British Artists.