Kevin Sinnott 1947-2026

Born in Sarn, Bridgend, Kevin Sinnott rose from humble beginnings to become one of Wales's most celebrated contemporary painters, earning international recognition while remaining deeply rooted in his native landscape and its people. He studied at Cardiff College of Art, Gloucestershire College of Art & Design, and the Royal College of Art in London, where he also spent time as a tutor at St Martins. Over the course of these years, a dedicated practitioner of modernism gave way to a creeping ‘apostasy’, as Kevin increasingly saw himself at cross-purposes with the aesthetic principles that had hallmarked his education and his early years. This wandering led him, perhaps inevitably, to return to South Wales, where his work found its most enduring voice, gaining a certain prominence and synonymity with contemporary art in Wales. His paintings are now held in major collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the British Museum, and the National Museum of Wales, to name just a few.

The hills of South Wales never really released Kevin Sinnott, their presence and character pressing against his earlier memories. A body of work emerged, embroiled in the powerful symbolic and romantic imagery of these communities, their history, and his own, never entirely separate, spinning together in the wellspring of his Pontycymer studio. His iconic figures do not merely occupy space; they suspend themselves across hillsides, leap through valley streets, and collide in operatic bursts of colour, passion, and movement.

Kevin leaves behind an extraordinary artistic legacy. His paintings will continue to speak of love, memory, place, and the enduring spirit of Wales, its valleys especially, for generations to come.