Eric James Malthouse

Eric Malthouse (1914–1997) was a British artist and print maker who spent most of his career in South Wales.

His work can be found in several collections including the Tate, the National Museum of Wales, the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth University, Art UK and the Government Art Collection.

Life Malthouse was born in Erdington, Birmingham in 1914. and with David Tinker and Michael Edmonds he founded the "56 Group Wales" in 1956. Malthouse was an active member (1956-1970) of the 56 Group being chair (1961), publicity officer (!962-1963) and treasurer (1963-1965) until he resigned in 1970 along with John Selway and Ernest Zobole, apparently in protest at the desire of some constructivists to exhibit together. and used this name to sign his pictures. By 1956 he had largely stopped using his second forename and for the rest of his career he used his first forename being known as Eric Malthouse and signing his pictures with this name. He was elected to the Printmakers' Council in 1971 and in 1973 he retired from Cardiff School of Art moving 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 where he continued to produce colourful abstracts and he also began a series of watercolours of scenes around Barry which he continued until he died in 1997. From 1952 to 1958 he produced his pigeon paintings transforming their movement to his canvas with pictures such as A Flight of Pigeons, A Flurry of Pigeons and Flying Pigeons. Printmaking became an increasingly important component of his future work. Of the six posters produced only those by Eric Malthouse, Jeffrey Steele and Allen Jones were said to have asserted themselves, with the Malthouse print being described as a "sensuous, map-like spread of large sinuous areas of warm dark colours" which enlivened the street in Cardiff where it was posted He produced illustrations for two books, Prynu Dol a collection of short stories by Kate Roberts and Ancestor Worship the first published collection of poems by Emyr Humphreys.