Art Preview - Gwen John and Augustus John exhibition, National Museum and Gallery, Cardiff, February 12th - May 12th.

A show by two of Pembrokeshire's most acclaimed artists opens in Cardiff on Saturday. The exhibition of brother and sister Gwen John and Augustus John is showing at the National Museum and Gallery, in association with Tate Britain.

Augustus John's lyric fantasy work including vibrant oil sketches of the outdoors and his family, and Gwen John's tender drawings and studies of Breton children and the landscsape are both bodies of works which are believed to have been inspired by the Pembrokeshire landscape and coastline.

Gwen John (1876-1939) and Augustus John (1878-1961) are two of Wales' most celebrated and acclaimed artists of the early 20th century.

It is the first large-scale exhibition to compare the work of brother and sister. On display will be the finest selection of Gwen John's work for over 15 years and the first serious reappraisal of Augustus John's work at its best for over half a century.

In all, 130 works will be on display including major loans from the Yale Center for British Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate Britain and many other public and private collections in both Britain and the United States.

The National Museums and Galleries of Wales (NMGW) houses part of the studio collection of both artists and will also present new technical research into Gwen John and Augustus John's painting techniques.

Said Beth McIntyre, assistant curator (fine art), NMGW: "Despite leaving Pembrokeshire at quite an early age, both Gwen and Augustus held fond memories of their childhood spent sketching the local people and landscape.

"Gwen had always been attracted by the sea. In 1918-19 she visited the coastal village of Plenuf in Brittany, which reminded her of the rugged coastline of her home in Pembrokeshire. During this time Gwen produced some of her most spontaneous and tender works."