R.S. Thomas

by John Hedgecoe
bromide print, 1966
12 in. x 16 1/8 in. (305 mm x 409 mm)
Purchased, 2000
Primary Collection
NPG P779

Sitterback to top

Ronald Stuart ('R.S.') Thomas (1913-2000), Poet and clergyman. Sitter in 3 portraits.

Artistback to top

John Hedgecoe (1932-2010), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 23 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 613

Placesback to top

Place made and portrayed: United Kingdom: Wales, Ceredigion (Eglwysfach, Ceredigion, Wales)

Subjects & Themesback to top

Events of 1966back to top

Current affairs

The English football team wins against West Germany at the World Cup Final in Wembley.
144 people, including 116 children, die in the Aberfan disaster when a colliery waste tip slides down a mountain in Wales.
Ian Brady and Myra Hindly are sentence to life imprisonment for the brutal Moors Murders.

Art and science

Tom Stoppard's first play Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead premiers. This absurdist play uses two minor characters from Hamlet to explore the existential themes of free will verses determinism and the futility of language.
Seamus Heany publishes his first volume of poems, Death of a Naturalist.

International

The Cultural Revolution is launched in China in order to bring Chinese culture and society in line with communist ideals. It was also, however, an attempt by Mao Zedong to regain control of the country after the mistakes of the Great Leap Forward.
Archbishop of Canterbury, Arthur Michael Ramsey meets Pope Paul VI, the first official meeting between the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches for 400 years.

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