56 Group Wales Papers

Papers, 1956-2012, of the professional artist exhibiting association 56 Group Wales (formerly the 56 Group) which include publicity material (including catalogues and posters); printed publications; audio-visual footage; photographic print blocks; financial records; insurance papers; agendas and minutes of annual general meetings, extraordinary general meetings and Group meetings; and a voluminous correspondence, largely between the Group’s secretaries and its executive committee and other members, the Welsh Arts Council, exhibition venues, accountants and auditors, etc.

Arranged in accordance with the original cataloguing of the material carried out by Mr David Moore, donor of the material.

Readers consulting modern papers in the National Library of Wales are required to abide by the conditions set out in information provided when applying for their Readers' Tickets, whereby the reader shall become responsible for compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 in relation to any processing by them of personal data obtained from modern records held at the Library. = Disgwylir i ddarllenwyr sydd am ddefnyddio papurau modern yn Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru gydymffurfio â Deddf Gwarchod Data 1998 yng nghyd-destun unrhyw brosesu ganddynt o ddata personol a gasglwyd o gofnodion modern sydd ar gadw yn y Llyfrgell. Nodir y manylion yn yr wybodaeth a roddir wrth wneud cais am Docyn Darllen.

Mr David Moore; Brecon ; Donation ; February 2013 ; 006396344

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.

Compiled by Bethan Ifan, utilising original records.

A CD containing a catalogue of records of 56 Group Wales, 1956-2012 (2007, updated 2012, by David Moore & Peter Wakelin), has been transferred to MABLAB at NLW.
Posters belonging to this collection but too large to store in archival boxes are now kept at PFC4/8 at NLW.
Non-print items, such as photographs, photographic slides, videotapes, CDs and DVDs, are kept separately and may be accessed on request.
Reference numbers for CDs, DVDs and videotapes are, respectively, as follows:
CM 15708
CM 15709
DVD 6178
VM 9138
Reference numbers for photographs are as follows:
Photo books 6028, size B & 6029, size B
References for photographic slides are as follows:
Photo book 6107, size E

Published

Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru = The National Library of Wales