Handel Evans

Handel Evans

The School of Art Museum of Aberystwyth University is home to a vast collection of ceramic arts. It houses art works that easily exceed 20,000 items that range from decorative fine art to photographs, prints, drawings, ceramics, watercolors, sculpture, artifacts and paintings. The university has also established its own Art and Crafts Museum which includes archaeological material and artifacts such as coins, glass, and antique furniture. Although the university does not benefit from the government sponsored funds that are regularly allocated to some of the larger university museums in England, the university has still managed to make it possible, mainly with the help of Trust Funds. Generous donations by benefactors such as Gwendolyn and Margaret Davies of Llandinam, George Powell of Nanteos, Sir John Williams, Marian Evans-Quinn, and Dr. Elvet Lewis have also played a pivotal role in the establishment of the museum. Apart from this, former students of the university and other friends have also been of tremendous help as they have made significant contributions and also made individual gifts and bequests of works of art.

Handel “Cromwell” Evans was born in Pontypridd, Glamorgan, in the year 1932. He went to the Cardiff College of Art between 1949 and 1954 and studied painting (Evans & Clare Hall Cambridge, 1987; Evans, 1900). He learned from skilled professionals like Eric Malthouse and David Tinker while Clifford H. Lewis became his mentor. Evans dedicated many of his early years to Clifford's School of Music and he studied so devotedly that he eventually became a licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music (Coliva & Sanpaolo, 2003). Lewis even requested the parents of Evans to sell if they had to in order to arrange finance so that Evans could complete his studies (Hess Collection, Hess, & Steiner, 2009). It was because of Lewis' mentorship that Evans was able to study the Alexander Technique and improve his posture.

One of the leading reasons why Evans was such a naturally talented and skilled artist is perhaps because of the fact that both his parents were themselves accomplished artists. Evans' father, Joseph Evans, belonged to a family that had a long history of singing (Morris & Perantoni, 2007). As a result, Handel Evans had a fine and baritone voice and was a licentiate of the London College of Music. Evans' Handel was born on an Easter Sunday a couple of days before Joseph was going to conduct a choir of around 2,ooo voices (Hess Collection, Hess, & Steiner, 2009). Handel got his name from George Frederick Handel who was a singer in that choir. In the initial stages, Evans's father taught him music and, as a result, he passed his very first examination at the tender ages of around 5 years (Coliva & Sanpaolo, 2003).

Since a very young age, Handel Evans was confronted with two choices when it came to opting for the perfect career (Evans, 1900). The main fields that were of interest to him were music and arts. He was an exceptionally talented person and was ...