Jewish refugee's art to be displayed in village

Polish born artist Josef Herman visited the Swansea valley for a holiday in 1944 and stayed for a decade

The works of a Jewish refugee who moved to Wales are to feature in a new exhibition centre.

Artist Josef Herman, born in Warsaw, left Poland in 1938 and moved to Brussels before fleeing to France two years later with the approaching German invasion.

He arrived in Britain in 1940 having lost his entire family in the Holocaust, and came on holiday to visit to the Swansea valley, staying at Ystradgynlais.

Feeling at home in the industrial town, he stayed for more than 10 years before eventually moving to Suffolk.

The miners of Ystradgynlais inspired much of Josef Herman's work

Following his death in 2000, The Josef Herman Foundation was established in the welfare hall to promote an appreciation of his life and work and to foster a wider participation in the arts.

The foundation has now bought Sardis, an empty chapel in Ystradgynlais, which it plans to renovate and turn into a gallery to tell Mr Herman's story and show his works.

Chairwoman Elinor Gilbey said: "The town is proud of its adopted son and his work reflects the local history and community.

"He was inspired by the Welsh mining community and working people in the area and coal miners featured prominently in his work."

There is already a permanent exhibition of Mr Herman's drawings at Welfare Hall, but Ms Gilbey said the new one would be "bigger and better".

Jackie Hankins, company secretary of the foundation, said she was "beyond excited".

"I kind of never thought we'd managed to pull it off buying it. And now having seen it, it's got huge potential, but obviously will involve a great deal of work and fund raising and so on, but it's just a fantastic building," she added.

The artist's work will soon be exhibited at Sardis, a former chapel in Ystradgynlais

Historian Arwel Michael said: "He fitted in with the local population, the local miners walking around. Jo Bach they used to call him, and that in itself is an endearing term in Welsh."

The foundation said that buying the chapel was part of its 20th anniversary celebration and planned to apply for museum accreditation.

"Getting a building that was suitable and big enough place to store artwork and create a visitors experience was essential to ensure that we can realise our dream," said Ms Gilbey.