Welcome to our online art gallery. For assistance call us on 01245 456677

£35 off first purchase over £350 code 35OFF

Allan Morgan

(9 products)

Introduction

Placeholder for Allan Morgan artwork

Allan Morgan, a Welsh-born painter whose precocious eye first spotted commercial promise in the undulating hills of Gower at just fifteen—when he parted with his inaugural canvas to a local gallery—now distils those same verdant whispers into luminous symphonies of oil and canvas, where the Welsh borders unfurl like living tapestries under skies that shift from pearlescent dawn to amber dusk. Distinctively, his brush dances a hybrid rite between Pre-Raphaelite precision and impressionist reverie, layering meticulous foliage with Monet-esque hazes of light that seem to breathe with the tide's ebb or the wind's sigh across Powys pastures, conjured from coastal sojourns where barnacle-crusted rocks and salt-laced horizons once framed his illustrator's sketches before he surrendered wholly to the wild's chromatic call.

Employing oils with a masterful blend of fine draughtsmanship and broad, expressive strokes, Morgan crafts surfaces that pulse with atmospheric depth, his palette a riot of emerald greens, sapphire blues, and sun-drenched golds that capture the ephemeral dance of shadows across heather-clad moors or the subtle iridescence of wave-kissed shores. His compositions, rooted in the realist tradition yet laced with colourist exuberance, invite contemplation of nature's quiet theatrics, where a lone oak might stand sentinel against a brooding sky, evoking both the steadfast geometry of ancient landscapes and the fluid poetry of seasonal flux.

From adolescent sales amid Swansea's salt breezes to a nomadic pursuit of Britain's unspoiled vistas, Morgan's path embodies the alchemist's art of turning observation into evocation. His canvases, born of relentless exploration and technical finesse, stand as eloquent paeans to the land's enduring allure, illuminating how a boy's early bargain with a gallery wall can evolve into visions that harness the soul-stirring interplay of earth, sky, and sea with unerring grace.

Biography

Born: Swansea, Wales, UK, 1952

Allan Morgan entered the world in 1952 in the coastal city of Swansea, enveloped by the rugged allure of the Gower Peninsula, whose dramatic cliffs and secluded coves would profoundly imprint upon his artistic sensibility from an early age. Demonstrating remarkable intuition for both creation and commerce, he achieved his first gallery sale at the tender age of fifteen—a modest landscape that hinted at the evocative prowess to come—instilling a confidence that propelled him towards formal training and a burgeoning career in visual arts.

Morgan pursued rigorous academic preparation across two esteemed institutions, dedicating five formative years to honing his craft: initial studies at Swansea College of Art, followed by advanced coursework at Coventry (Lanchester) Polytechnic, culminating in a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Fine Art (Painting) in the mid-1970s. This comprehensive education equipped him with a solid foundation in classical techniques, draughtsmanship, and colour theory, while exposing him to diverse movements that would later coalesce in his personal idiom. Emerging from academia, he navigated the competitive realm of commercial illustration, securing commissions from an array of prominent British publishing houses—including those producing illustrated books, periodicals, and advertising materials—where his precise line work and atmospheric renderings graced countless pages, sustaining him financially while allowing clandestine forays into personal landscape studies.

Though illustration afforded stability and acclaim, Morgan's affections remained tethered to the expansive narratives of nature, prompting a gradual yet resolute pivot back to fine art by the early 1980s. Relocating initially to remain proximate to Gower's tidal rhythms, he immersed himself in plein air pursuits, sketching the peninsula's serpentine bays, wildflower-strewn dunes, and mist-shrouded headlands, which became the bedrock of his oeuvre. As his reputation burgeoned, he ventured further afield to the pastoral heartlands of mid-Wales, particularly the Tywi Valley's meandering rivers and undulating meadows, where the interplay of light filtering through ancient woodlands inspired a deeper exploration of seasonal transitions and diurnal moods.

By the late 1980s, Morgan had fully committed to professional painting, establishing a studio in the liminal borderlands of Herefordshire and Powys—a region of rolling hills, hedgerow labyrinths, and crystalline streams that mirrored his affinity for Britain's understated grandeur. Here, he refined a signature methodology: commencing with on-site watercolours and charcoal studies to capture fleeting luminosities, then transposing these into expansive oil canvases in the studio, where layers of glazing and impasto build a tactile verisimilitude. His coastal heritage persists, drawing him periodically to revisit crashing surf and pebbled inlets, infusing inland scenes with maritime freshness. Influences from the Pre-Raphaelites' meticulous naturalism—evident in his intricate depictions of flora and geological forms—mingle seamlessly with impressionist legacies, as seen in the diffused glows and chromatic vibrations reminiscent of Monet's haystacks or Degas's balletic forms transposed to bucolic expanses.

This evolution has seen Morgan embrace a 'colourist' dimension in recent decades, amplifying his palette to embrace bolder saturations and expressive freedoms, particularly in renditions of the Scottish Highlands' lochs and heather moors or the Lake District's mist-veiled fells, undertaken during annual sketching expeditions. His discipline—marked by iterative refinements over weeks, balancing observational fidelity with interpretive licence—has yielded a corpus that transcends mere topography, embedding emotional resonance within every vista. Residing amid Powys's timeless contours, Morgan continues to traverse the archipelago's diverse terrains, his work a testament to the inexhaustible dialogue between artist and environment, forged through decades of unwavering dedication.

Achievements

Allan Morgan’s notable accomplishments in the art world include:

  • Achieving his first gallery sale at age fifteen in Swansea, followed by a BA Honours in Fine Art from Coventry Polytechnic after studies at Swansea College of Art, and establishing a thriving illustration career with major British publishers before transitioning to full-time landscape painting in the early 1980s
  • Building international acclaim for his realist landscapes of Gower Peninsula, mid-Wales, and coastal scenes, with originals priced from £1,200 to £8,500 and limited editions in high demand across the UK and Europe
  • Exhibiting extensively throughout the United Kingdom since the 1990s, including solo and group shows in Wales, England, and Scotland, resulting in works entering private collections in Canada, France, and beyond
  • Gaining recognition as one of the UK's foremost contemporary landscape artists by 2025, praised for his fusion of Pre-Raphaelite detail and impressionist light effects, with a devoted collector base drawn to his evolving colourist approach and atmospheric depth
View as