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Two Paintings by Dixon were once displayed
at Oystermouth Library
Two Paintings by Dixon were once displayed
at Oystermouth Library
Oystermouth Library once housed two large paintings undertaken in 1896 by the artist George Dixon. The works are unusual for several reasons, not least of which is their size - 10 feet 6 inches by 5 feet each.
The paintings once hung high on the wall, but were removed from the library in recent years after they sustained damage. They are now in the Swansea Museum Collection Centre, an historically important building on the former Hafod / Morfa Copper Works site in Landore.
The Museum Collections Centre is not open to the public.
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The Museum Collections Centre is not open to the public.
One of two paintings of Southend by George Dixon -
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George is believed to have been part of the Dixon family of talented artists whose work included local scenes. Amongst them were Alfred Dixon of Mumbles and his son Charles (R.I.). Co-incidentally, the Glynn Vivian Gallery has a painting by Charles (1872-1934) of Oystermouth in 1892. Charles also painted "She's Off! The Launch of the Mumbles Lifeboat by the Light of the Rocket", which was at one time published as a supplement to "The Graphic". Frank Dixon and George Dixon similarly painted local scenes. They were also related to the well-known Gold family of Mumbles.
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One of two paintings of Southend by George Dixon -
A larger file size image, which may take longer to download depending on your network
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The paintings were bought in late 1956 from the firm of Messrs. W. G. Huxtable (Swansea) Ltd. at a cost of £100, with the intention of displaying them at Oystermouth Library. The Library Service has been fortunate in contacting Mr. Graham Huxtable, journalist, broadcaster and former sportsman, of West Cross, who negotiated the original sale of the paintings when the family business was moving to another part of Swansea. Discussions with Mr. Huxtable, now in his 80's, revealed that he had "grown up" with the paintings, sited as they were in his late father's (then his) office. The elder Mr. Huxtable had bought the firm's South Dock premises from the Gold family and it was they who commissioned the works to grace the boardroom walls. It is possible that Dixon was chosen because of his family links with the Golds. They were damaged by water penetration in enemy action during the war. Interestingly, there was a third painting of the same dimensions and theme of Oystermouth but this was completely destroyed.
A most interesting detail is the medium in which the paintings have been executed. The elder Mr. Huxtable told his son that they were painted in a form of household distemper with the artist using buckets of different colours.
Cleaning, restoration and conservation of such items is of course a specialised and expensive task and the Library Service is currently exploring ways of making this possible. Research is continuing into the history of the paintings and any information about them or members of the Dixon, sometimes spelt Dickson, family and their links with the Gold family would be welcomed by the Service.
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