Margaret Sidney Davies (14 December 1884 – 13 March 1963), was a Welsh art collector and patron of the arts. With her sisterGwendoline, she bequeathed a total of 260 works, particularly strong inImpressionist and 20th-century art, which formed the basis of the present-dayNational Museum Wales' international collection. The sisters started theGregynog Press in 1922 and theGregynog Music Festival in 1933.
Like her sister Gwen, Margaret was born atLlandinam and educated at Highfield School in Hendon. They and their brotherDavid Davies, 1st Baron Davies, were the children of Edward Davies, the only son ofDavid Davies Llandinam, anindustrialist andphilanthropist.
An amateur painter, Margaret shared Gwen's passion for collecting works by theImpressionists and other contemporary artists. She started the collection in 1906 with her purchase of a painting byHercules Brabazon Brabazon. By 1913, the two sisters had accumulated enough paintings to host an exhibition atCardiff City Hall.
During theFirst World War, the Davies sisters worked as volunteers for theFrench Red Cross, as they had already travelled extensively in France. They offeredasylum in Wales during the war to the Belgian artistsGeorge Minne,Valerius de Saedeleer,Elisabeth de Saedeleer andGustave van de Woestijne.
In the early 1920s, they moved intoGregynog Hall atNewtown, Montgomeryshire. In 1922, they founded theGregynog Press, publishing finelimited editions of works in English and Welsh.
From 1933 to 1938, they sponsored theGregynog Music Festival at their estate, an annual 3–4-day affair directed byHenry Walford Davies that included poetry readings. The festivals played host to importantcomposers and other musical figures of the period, includingRalph Vaughan Williams,Edward Elgar,Gustav Holst, "the conductorAdrian Boult, and the poetLascelles Abercrombie; and performers includingJelly d'Arányi and theRothschild Quartet."[1]
The festival ended during the build-up to theSecond World War. It was revived during 1955–1961 by the composerIan Parrott, Gregynog Professor of Music atAberystwyth for more than 30 years. The festival was revived again in 1988 by the tenorAnthony Rolfe Johnson. Since 2006, it has been directed by the music historian and broadcaster,Rhian Davies.[1]
In 1960, some years after her sister's death in 1951, Margaret Davies donated Gregynog to theUniversity of Wales for use as an arts centre.[1] Margaret died in London, and her ashes were buried along with her sister's at their birthplace of Llandinam.
They bequeathed their collection of paintings and sculptures, which Margaret had expanded after Gwen's death, to theNational Museum of Wales. The total of 260 works of painting and sculpture formed the nucleus of its art collection, particularly for international art. It has been called "one of the great British art collections of the 20th century".[2] Among these were seven oil paintings that had been bought asJ. M. W. Turners (includingThe Beacon Light).[3] Three of these were subsequently judged to be fake and withdrawn from display. These works were re-examined by the BBC TV programme,Fake or Fortune where they were reinstated as genuine Turners. All seven paintings will now be exhibited together.
In 1967, The Davies Memorial Gallery was built inNewtown, Powys, with a legacy left by the Davies sisters. More recently, in 2003, after major redevelopment and merging with "Oriel 31", the Gallery re-opened as Oriel Davies Gallery, named in honour of the sisters.[4]
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