Malcolm Morley in the workshop at Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York, 1998
Gift of Kenneth Tyler 2002
Photographer: Marabeth COHEN-TYLER

Malcolm Morley was born in Highgate, London, in 1931. He studied at both the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts and the Royal College of Art in London before migrating to New York in 1958. Here he met Barnett Newman and was influenced by his work and the work of other Abstract Expressionists. In 1965 he shifted his focus from Abstraction to Realism, and coined the term ‘Superrealist’ to describe his work. This new direction involved the transfer of images from a variety of sources (including travel brochures) to canvas via a grid system.

It differed from the ‘Photorealist’ artists who would often use a projector to transfer their images. Morley’s later works, including the prints that he completed at Tyler Graphics, blend his figurative Superrealist work with his gestural abstractions. In 1982 he completed several lithographic print editions featuring pastoral scenes of farm animals. In 1998 he returned to Tyler Graphics and produced three bright lithographic prints of boats and beaches.
Emilie Owens

Further reading

Chronology
 

1931
Born in Highgate, London, England

1952–53
Attends Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, London

1954–57
Attends Royal College of Art, London; teachers include painters John Minton and Carol Weight

1955
Included in exhibition, The young British contemporaries, at RBA Galleries, London

1956
Receives British Arts Council Travelling Exhibition Prize; included in exhibition, The young British contemporaries, at RBA galleries, London

1957
Graduates from Royal College of Art, London; included in exhibition, The young British contemporaries, at RBA galleries, London

1958
Moves to New York, New York, United States

1964
First solo exhibition, at Kornblee Gallery, New York

1965–66
Teaches at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1966
Included in exhibition, The photographic image, at Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York

1967–69
Teaches at School of Visual Arts, New York; included in Biennial of São-Paulo, Brazil

1970
Included in exhibition, 22 realists, at Whitney Museum for American Art, New York

1971
Included in exhibition, Radical realism, at Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois

1972
Included in exhibition, Documenta 5, Kassel, West Germany; begins teaching at University of New York, Stony Brook, New York

1977
Included in exhibition, British painting: 1952–1977, at Royal Academy of Arts, London; receives grant from German Academic Exchange Program; moves to Tampa, Florida; included in exhibition, Illusion and reality, at Australian National Gallery (now National Gallery of Australia), which travels to West Australian Art Gallery, Perth; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; Art Gallery of South Australia; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Tasmanian Museum and Gallery, Hobart

1981
Solo exhibition, Malcolm Morley: paintings, at Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio

1982
Completes editions of Beach scene, Parrots, Devonshire bullocks, Devonshire cows, Fish, Goat, Horses and Goats in a shed at Tyler Graphics Ltd, Bedford Village, New York; included in exhibition, Thirty painters: given and promised, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1983
Travelling retrospective exhibition, Malcolm Morley: paintings 1965–1982, originating at Whitechapel Art Gallery, London; included in exhibition, New Art, at Tate Gallery, London

1984
Receives inaugural Turner Prize, Tate Gallery, London; included in exhibitions: Prints from Tyler Graphics, at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; An international survey of painting and sculpture, at Museum of Modern Art, New York

1985
Moves to Long Island, New York; included in exhibitions: Carnegie International, at Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; travelling exhibition, Pop art 1955–70, originating at Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney and travelling to Australian National Gallery, Canberra, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane and National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

1986
Included in Origins, originality and beyond, Biennale of Sydney, Australia

1989
Included in exhibition, Constructing a history, at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California

1990
Becomes citizen of the United States; solo exhibition at Anthony d. Offay Gallery, London

1991
Travelling exhibition, Malcolm Morley: watercolours, originating at Tate Gallery, Liverpool, England

1993
Travelling retrospective exhibition organised by Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

1995
Travelling solo exhibition, Malcolm Morley: 1965–95, originatingat Fundación La Caixa, Madrid, Spain

1997
Included in exhibitions: Beyond print: masterworks from the Ken Tyler Collection, at Dr Earl Lu Gallery, LaSalle-SIA, Singapore; Landscape in prints, at Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

1998
Completes editions of Flying cloud with Montgolfière balloon, Pamela running before the wind with a Dutch lighthouse and Beach scene with parasailor at Tyler Graphics Ltd, Mount Kisco, New York; included in exhibitions: Ken Tyler: printmaker emeritus, Southern Graphics Council Conference, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio; included in exhibition celebrating the 200th anniversary of the invention of lithography, Pushing boundaries: lithographs from 9 American fine art presses, at College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning Galleries, University of Cincinnati, Ohio

2001
Retrospective exhibition, Malcolm Morley in full colour, at Hayward Gallery, London

2006
Solo exhibition, Malcolm Morley: the art of painting, Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, Florida

Malcolm Morley currently lives and works in Brookhaven, New York.

Barbara Delano © Tyler Graphics Ltd; revised Kate Buckingham, 2006
This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.

Further information will be added to this site as the National Gallery proceeds with its research and documentation.

Last updated May 2013