Biography
Eric Malthouse was born in Erdington, Birmingham on the 20 August 1914. After going to King Edward V1 school at Aston he studied at Birmingham College of Arts & Crafts (1931-37). He was the Art Master at Salt High Schools at Saltaire, Shipley, Yorkshire (1938-39) before spending two years in the Royal Armoured Corps (1940-42). Then he was appointed Lecturer and later Senior Lecturer at Cardiff College of Art (1944-73). He was a founder member of the "South Wales Group" (1949) and of the "56 Group Wales" (1956-70).
Eric Malthouse studied at the College of Art Birmingham. His important early work was Surrealist and his connection with Cornwall dates from the outbreak of the second world war in 1939 when he was producing landscapes around Mullion Cove. In 1952 he produced his pigeon paintings. It was not until 1955 when he was back in Cornwall that he began, after a series of 'St. Ives Fishermen', paintings, the St. Ives 'Rock Pools' which were the foundation of his work as a non-figurative painter. These 'Rock Pool' paintings, together with the earlier series of paintings of the 'Flight of Pigeons', were concerned with a close analysis of colour and a rigorous concern with spatial composition. In 1959 his paintings became completely non-figurative. He had been involved in printmaking since his student days and this became an increasingly important component of his work in Llandaff up to 1963 and subsequently in Penarth . In 1973 he moved to Cargreen in Cornwall where he continued his work with non-figurative oils and prints. In 1981 he moved to Keynsham. His wife Anne died in 1982 and in 1985 he moved back to Barry in South Wales. There he continued to produce large, very colourful abstracts (one oil that he produced in 1991 measure 40 x 50 inches), and he also began a series of watercolours of scenes around Barry which he continued until he died on the 12 April 1997.
Details of some other works
The education of the Child: Leave it to the Ass, a print produced in 1937, was a bitter comment, according to the artist.
Shrieking cock, a lithograph produced in 1957 was printed in three reds and heralds his use of vivid colour refinement.
Where the Wind Blows Red a lithograph produced in 1965, was suggested by the red sky and spumes of smoke from Port Talbot's vast new steelworks.
Two little Incendergells (1968) and the Doom Figure (1969) are prints whose titles echo world events. Incendergell was another name for napalm while the Doom Figure reflects the people who died due to the first atomic bomb.
Ancestor Worship (1970) developed from his illustrations of Emyr Humphreys' book of poetry of the same title.
Prynu Dol, 1970 (1 , 2) was one of the most complex prints produced. The edition was produced, three prints at a time, on one imperial sheet using five colours in numbers 1 to 3, and four colours in numbers 4 to 9. By varying the areas of colour in each print the maximum variety was achieved. The imagery of Prynu Dol was inspired by the Kate Roberts stories and endeavours to express their strange character. The use of non-figurative imagery, emphasising the atmosphere of a story, was, he suggested, a very unusual but a legitimate method.
Elegy for Fun, 1972/79 (1
, 2)
and the Bagatelles, 1978/82 (1 , 2 , 3)
were begun as a casual light hearted series. The Elegy began
as six and was extended to nine. The artist stated it was
" tinged with sadness , being dedicated to one who I thought
was a misunderstood student. It was 'for fun', a term she often
used and fun for me, as a series celebrating leaving lecturing".
Bagatelles, began as a series of four paintings to commemorate
his son's doctorate at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College.