Fonds GB 0210 FSGROUP - 56 Group Wales Papers

A printed typescript and printed emails, dated February 2013, sent between David Moore, donor of the 56 Group Wales papers, and Rhiannon Michaelson-Yates, Acquisitions Archivist at NLW, are kept in Box 1 of the collection.

The 56 Group Wales is a professional artists’ association whose primary aim is the exhibition and promotion of contemporary Welsh art and artists. Established in 1956 simply as the ’56 Group’ by founder members Eric Malthouse, David Tinker and Michael Edmonds, ‘Wales’ was added to the name in 1967 and its Welsh-language title – Grŵp 56 Cymru – first publicly utilised in 1976. During its now (2016) sixty-year history, the Group has exhibited widely not only within Wales but also in numerous venues throughout the British Isles and further afield in Europe. In 1976, the 56 Group Wales published a book entitled The Artist And How To Employ Him, with contributions from Group members and edited by Arthur Giardelli, who served as chairman of the Group from 1961 to 1998. The 56 Group Wales has played a major role in raising the status of the professional artist in Wales and in stimulating discussion about contemporary art.

Thanks are due to Mr David Moore and Ms Sue Hiley-Harris for their invaluable assistance during the cataloguing process.