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Andrew Vicari A South Wales Artist JOHN ACKERMAN ANDREW VICARI WAS BORN in Port Talbot in 1932. He is of Italian origin. He has lived most of his life in Neath, where his parents have some businesses. Behind one of these, up the steps of a barn-like build- ing, is Vicari's studio. Vicari studied art at the Slade school, under Professor William Coldstream, and also in Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome and Amsterdam. He has exhibited in Paris, and in London and Rome. In 1957 there was an exhibition of his paintings in London at the Obelisk Gallery. It is now four years since Vicari returned to South Wales, and much of his best work is rooted in the life and landscapes of this locality. His paintings may be divided into four groups. First, there is the portrait. The majority, and it seems to me the most successful, of Vicari's works are portraits. Examples of these are The Daydreamer, Portrait of Richard, Alexandra, The Watcher. Secondly, there are the paintings of groups of people, often against a particular landscape. These are usually painted from direct observation of the scene; seldom entirely from memory. These include A Walk on Craig-Y-Nos, Figures by a Lake, Whitsun March at Aberdulais, and studies of miners at work or ready for their shift. Figures by a Lake, for example, heavy, dark-toned, in purple and dark green, has an almost Impressionist glow. The third group centres on themes of violence, and depicts groups of people in conflict. These are generally concerned with the 1956 Revolution in Hungary. But they seem to me less successful; and this may be due to the fact that they are inspired by a vague, general sentiment and not by a particular, observed scene which the artist has directly experienced. The fourth group of paintings is the still life usually a collection of fruit. Undoubtedly Vicari's major interest is in people. This is so much so that sometimes the background, which is often a landscape, seems