The Welsh artist Roy Powell, who has died aged 87, was a distinguished painter in both oil and watercolour, particularly in the still-life “vanitas” tradition.
His distinctive paintings, as with those of his biggest influence, Cézanne, emerge from a contemplative, intense emotional involvement with subject. Vanitas paintings, in a philosophical tradition dating from the 17th century, are a confident assertion of life alongside a reminder of its ephemeral nature. In Roy’s case this was expressed through sheep skulls, fruit, vases of flowers, books and rich fabrics. The depiction of mirrors encouraged a questioning of the familiar. He was also concerned with resonances between form, structure and colour. In addition he painted landscape and wrote articles about painting.
