The Archive

The Kenneth Tyler Collection tells the story of the incredible artistic and technical developments in the field of 20th century printmaking and the story of the artists who worked there. Understanding the ingenuity and ambition of these works of art, produced by 78 artists across 36 years all in collaboration with master printer Kenneth Tyler, can be a complex task: How did Kenneth Tyler redefine the boundaries of printmaking? How did some of the 20th century’s greatest artists adapt to the disciplines of print?

The resources of the Kenneth Tyler Collection’s archive provide a unique window on to this pivotal period of print history. It illustrates the nature of collaboration and innovation in Ken Tyler’s workshops and provides a rich account of the creation of thousands of works of art.

This archive was generously given to the National Gallery of Australia as a gift from Kenneth Tyler and Marabeth Cohen-Tyler in 2002. The archive contains:

• Print documents that detail the complexity and development of thousands of works of art
• Photographs of the artists at work
• Film and sound recordings from major projects
• Published ephemera from artist editions
• Press clippings and interview transcripts

By illuminating the intricacies of the printmaking process and the creative problem solving that Tyler developed to accommodate an artist’s ambitions, the Kenneth Tyler Collection archive is an indispensable resource for scholars, students and artists for generations to come.

On this page you will find some of the most important documents that the collection holds. If you are a researcher and would like access to material via a range of finding aids, please get in touch at tylercollection@nga.gov.au. This page will be added to as our archivists work on making this material accessible to the public.