Anthony Kirk was head of the etching department at Tyler Graphics from 1988 until 2000. Here, Kirk reflects on his experiences at TGL
Categories: Behind-the-scenes, Tyler Graphics Ltd • Tags: Anthony Kirk, aquatint, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, etching, Frank Stella, Helen Frankenthaler, intaglio, Joan Mitchell, John Walker, Kenneth Tyler, master printer, Tyler Graphics Ltd
This week we’ve been busy installing Robert Motherwell: At five in the afternoon, which opens on Saturday. It has been wonderful to see the show come together – from wall colours to framing to lighting – after months of preparation. Thank you to everyone who has made the exhibition possible, it really is a team effort. In the coming months we will look more in-depth at the artist and the works on display, so keep an eye out. Here are some behind-the-scenes shots […]
Categories: Artists, Behind-the-scenes, Exhibitions • Tags: Abstract Expressionism, Collage, etching, exhibitions, Installation, Kenneth Tyler, lithography, National Gallery of Australia, paper pulp, printmaking, Robert Motherwell, Tyler Collection, Tyler Graphics Ltd
As curators we have a tendency to focus on the artwork, the finished product; however this is only ever part of the equation. The technical nature of printmaking often necessitates collaboration and team work in order to successfully execute a print. Indeed, the prodigious output of the Tyler workshops was reliant on the efforts of a dedicated and hard-working team of talented printers and staff, a fact which we have endeavoured to reflect on the Team page of our website. The […]
Categories: Artists, Behind-the-scenes, Tyler Graphics Ltd • Tags: Claes Oldenburg, David Hockney, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Stella, Helen Frankenthaler, John Hutcheson, Kenneth Noland, Kenneth Tyler, lithography, National Gallery of Australia, papermaking, Per Inge Bjørlo, printmaking, prints, Robert Motherwell, Roy Lichtenstein, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Tyler Collection, Tyler Graphics Ltd
Following our recent look at Anthony Caro’s paper sculptures produced at Tyler Graphics we wanted to discuss the importance of papermaking in Tyler’s workshops and the innovative ways in which handmade papers were used. As this story spans almost four decades we’ve just touched on a few things here and hope to explore it further in the new year with a dedicated ‘paper page’ on our website. Upon opening his own workshop in 1965, Tyler began a long and involved […]
Categories: Artists, Behind-the-scenes, Gemini GEL, Tyler Graphics Ltd, Uncategorized • Tags: France, Gemini GEL, paper pulp, papermaking, Richard de Bas paper mill, Robert Rauschenberg, Tyler Graphics Ltd
Robert Motherwell’s El negro recently made a trip to the National Gallery of Australia’s paper conservation department for some preventative treatment. We paid a visit to conservator Fiona Kemp to bring you these special behind-the-scenes shots of conservation in action! You can read more about the making of El negro in the Tyler Graphics Ltd. print documentation here: http://nga.gov.au/internationalprints/tyler/pamphlets/TylerTGL/MotherwellNegro.pdf For more information on Motherwell and his work with Tyler, visit our website: http://nga.gov.au/internationalprints/tyler/DEFAULT.cfm?MnuID=2&ArtistIRN=22859&List=True
Categories: Artists, Behind-the-scenes, Tyler Graphics Ltd • Tags: Abstract Expressionism, conservation, El negro, Kenneth Tyler, National Gallery of Australia, Raphael Alberti, Robert Motherwell, Tyler Graphics Ltd
Ellsworth Kelly Colored paper images II, V and X 1976, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC is currently showing Ellsworth Kelly’s Colored paper images, created with Kenneth Tyler at the Tyler Graphics workshop in Bedford Village in 1976. We thought this was an excellent reason to take a look at the series ourselves and to bring you some images from the candid photography collection. You can find out more about the National Gallery of […]
Categories: Artists, Behind-the-scenes, Tyler Graphics Ltd • Tags: Colored paper images, Ellsworth Kelly, Kenneth Tyler, National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Australia, paper pulp, papermaking, prints, Tyler Collection
Over the past few months we have been compiling new information for the Gallery’s Kenneth Tyler printmaking collection website, and working to make the site easier to use. The results are now online for you to explore here: http://nga.gov.au/InternationalPrints/Tyler/Default.cfm?MnuID=12 An important addition to the site is the new Tyler Graphics Ltd (TGL) team page, dedicated to the immensely talented group of printers and workshop staff that made the astonishing print projects produced at TGL possible. This page reveals the truly […]
Categories: Artists, Behind-the-scenes, Tyler Graphics Ltd • Tags: David Hockney, Frank Stella, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Kenneth Tyler, National Gallery of Australia, printmaking, Robert Motherwell, Tyler Graphics Ltd
The votes are in! You asked for more candid photographs from behind the scenes, so we thought we would begin with an overview of this unique collection. The Tyler candid photography collection contains thousands of rare candid photographs of artists at work in the Tyler workshops, as well as in their own studios. The collection is an invalubale resource for students, teachers, scholars and fans of printmaking, providing a unique insight into the working methods of Tyler and his dedicated workshop […]
Categories: Artists, Behind-the-scenes, Gemini GEL, Tyler Graphics Ltd • Tags: candid photography, Facebook, Helen Frankenthaler, James Rosenquist, Josef Albers, Kenneth Tyler, lithograph, Nancy Graves, National Gallery of Australia, Paul Jenkins, Tyler Collection
The Tyler team spent last week in Victoria installing the Roy Lichtenstein: Pop remix exhibition at Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery (MPRG) http://mprg.mornpen.vic.gov.au/. Thank you to all the fabulous MPRG staff and volunteers who made the install a breeze! To give you a taste of what’s on the walls, check out the below shot of install week. If you live in the area, make sure you don’t miss the opportunity to see over 80 works by Pop Art icon Roy Lichtenstein. […]
Categories: Artists, Behind-the-scenes, Exhibitions • Tags: Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, National Gallery of Australia, Pop art, Roy Lichtenstein, travelling exhibitions
Kenneth Tyler and Helen Frankenthaler worked together on many print projects in a collaborative relationship that spanned 25 years. Below Ken remembers working with Helen and discusses her approach to printmaking. Helen Frankenthaler’s death on December 27, 2011 is a great loss to the world and, within that, the world of art. She will be remembered for her unshakeable confidence, indefatigable in her creation of abstract images. Helen was both meticulous and experimental in her painting and printmaking, often challenging […]
Categories: Artists, Behind-the-scenes • Tags: Essence Mulberry, Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Tyler, National Gallery of Australia, printmaking, Robert Motherwell, Tyler Graphics Ltd, woodblock
Because of their sensitivity to light, works on paper displays are changed more frequently than paintings or sculptures. This is great for regular visitors to the National Gallery, as it means added opportunity to see the breadth of the Tyler collection. For an idea of what is involved in changing a gallery display, this month we’re taking a behind-the-scenes tour of an International Prints rehang. Rehanging a gallery is more complex than you might imagine and involves the coordination of […]
Categories: Behind-the-scenes, Exhibitions, Gemini GEL, Tyler Graphics Ltd • Tags: exhibitions, Jasper Johns, Kenneth Tyler, National Gallery of Australia, Pop art, Richard Serra, Tyler Graphics Ltd
As promised, a short clip from our newly digitised film and sound collection is ready and waiting for you to watch through Vimeo. This footage shows Frank Stella discussing the making of his epic print The fountain, 1992. More material will be made available as we identify and catalogue our large holdings: you can expect to see artists in action as well as Ken Tyler and his staff inking plates, operating the presses, making paper and much, much more. Stay tuned! […]
Categories: Behind-the-scenes, Tyler Graphics Ltd, Uncategorized • Tags: DAMSmart!, Frank Stella, Kenneth Tyler, National Gallery of Australia
To those of us unfamiliar with printmaking, its technical processes can seem mysterious. Especially in the workshops of Kenneth Tyler, where 500-tonne printing presses were housed alongside antique Bavarian lithography stones; where staff in white overalls and rubber boots sprayed paper pulp from moving platforms above works of art; and where traditional Japanese woodblock and papermaking methods were employed in the same rooms as photo-mechanical techniques, the engineering of kinetic sculptures, and the making of vast, colourful mixed-media prints in […]
Categories: Behind-the-scenes, Tyler Graphics Ltd • Tags: DAMSmart!, David Hockney, Frank Stella, Kenneth Tyler, Roy Lichtenstein
Claes Oldenburg is known for his experimentation with prints and multiples in order to produce witty, large scale transformations of everyday objects. Like the other, larger Ice bags that Oldenburg created, Ice bag – scale B (1971) was given life as a kinetic sculpture, mechanically powered from within so that it rises and tilts continually, in a gentle circular motion – almost as if it is breathing. Caring for kinetic sculptures presents unique challenges, especially when they are frequently on display (Ice bag – scale B can be seen in action regularly in the NGA’s Pop […]
Categories: 3D Multiples, Behind-the-scenes, Gemini GEL • Tags: air bag, Claes Oldenburg, conservation, Gemini GEL, kinetic sculpture, National Gallery of Australia, oldenburg, Pop art, preservation, soft sculpture
