Hill-rythms, David Jones & Capel-y-ffin by Peter Wakelin

David Jones (1895-1974) was one of the great British artists of the twentieth century: a painter, printmaker, illustrator, poet and essayist. Kenneth Clark, T. S. Eliot and Igor Stravinsky among others called him a genius.
This book centres on the time Jones spent in the mid-1920s at Capel-y-ffin in the Black Mountains, which he described as ‘a new beginning’ in his art. Aged 29 and recovering from the trauma of the trenches, he developed a fluid new style inspired by the ‘hill-rhythms’ of the mountains and the ‘counter-rhythms’ of the rivers. At the same time, he produced some of the finest illustrated books of the century and found intellectual purpose in a Roman Catholic community of like-minded artists and craftspeople. His work continued to develop but his memories of Capel-y-ffin remained in his imagination as both artist and writer for the rest of his life.