John Selway and Denys Short are both artists who responded to life and society in south Wales through art. In this video Amgueddfa Cymru’s Head of Fine Art, Nicholas Thornton, looks at how the artists have depicted their view of south east Wales. He compares two paintings that were painted in 1960 and looks at how international art movements influenced the artists and the kind of art they were making at the time.

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What similarities can you see in the artists’ styles? What makes them different from one another?

The artworks that appear in this video are: John Selway's Cwm Nante and Cold Mill; and Denys Short's Chapel and Tip.

Nicholas Thornton is Amgueddfa Cymru’s Head of Fine Art. He has a particular interest in modern and contemporary art from Wales and relating this visual culture to current debates around transnational modernisms as well as the convergence between socially-engaged art practice and new ways of working with museum collections.