The exhibition 'Themes and Variations: A Select Retrospective' concentrates on the musical and poetic themes that influenced the career of Ceri Richards over four decades.

Next year sees the centenary of the artist who grew up in Dunvant near Swansea and trained at the Swansea School of Art and Royal College of London. He died in 1971.

The Pianist No 2 painted by Richards in 1948

Curator Mel Gooding believes the exhibition, the first major show of Richards' since the Tate, will open the doors for a re-examination of the artist's work.

"One of the things about the show is that I hope it begins an appraisal of Richards' work," said the critic.

He has drawn together 70 pieces by the artist, some in public collections here and abroad, and others borrowed from private ownership.

Some works have deliberately been left out of Gooding's choice.

But the retrospective charts Richards' inspiration, sometimes drawn from the forceful poetry of Dylan Thomas and at others from the musical preludes of Debussy.

For the first time the art is presented in a series of five themes and, according to Gooding, does away with any notion that Richards was not methodical and was always changing direction.

'Dazzling virtuosity'

"Few artists of his time have encompassed such oppositions of subject, theme and mood.

"Richards' extraordinary versatility enabled him to shift styles and to treat his subjects with a dazzling virtuosity.

"One thing about this show is that it gives you a very clear and in depth picture of how concentrated his work could be. "

From Cardiff a selected exhibition will go on to tour visiting Leeds- where one of Richards' work is still on display since a major surrealist show in the 1980s - and the Glyn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea.

"I hope the exhibition in Swansea will help form the centre piece of the centenary celebrations," said Gooding.

One disappointment, however, is that the show will not go on to London, where a lack of a suitably big art space has been a factor.

'Themes and Variations: A Select Retrospective' is at the National Museum and Gallery of Wales until 27 October; Leeds City Art Gallery from 16 January to 30 March, 2003; and Glyn Vivian Art Gallery from 3 May to 29 June, 2003.