Dylan Thomas 1932

On the day in 1986 that Andrew Lambert re-opened The Tabernacle as a centre for the performing arts, there were on the stage a number of drawings and paintings that we as a family had donated to launch The Tabernacle Collection.

There are now well over three hundred works in the Collection. Some have been given In Memoriam; several are ‘The gift of the Artist’; and many were added through the generous legacies of Nora Gibbs, Mollie Winterburn and John Davies.

Fascinating stories lie behind many of the works, and there are two important drawings by Mervyn Levy of Dylan Thomas: Dylan Thomas 1932 and Dylan Thomas 1950.

They were students together and the earlier drawing is of that shared period. The second is of Dylan only a short time before his last fateful journey to the United States.

The gallery owner in London where the drawings were being shown said I could not buy them as it was hoped they would go to America. But she put me in touch with Mervyn Levy, the artist. Not only did he let us buy them, but he also gave us the copyright of both works.

Ruth Lambert, March 2021