Valton Tyler; Front Elevation of Section 17, 1971; etching and aquatint (604×908 mm)

The AP/RC received a generous donation from Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden in Dallas of an etching, Front Elevation of Section 17 (1971) by Valton Tyler (1944-2017). The Valley House Gallery’s founder, Donald Vogel, had been an early supporter of Tyler’s work and helped him gain access to Southern Methodist University’s (SMU) printmaking facilities in the 1970s.

Tyler, who did not have any formal training in the visual arts, started drawing in his youth. He created fictional landscapes, eccentric constructions, and visionary architectures in dream-like spaces. While drawing and painting focused most of his attention, access to the facilities at SMU presented him with an opportunity to explore intaglio printmaking. He completed fifty etchings in the early 1970s with the help of Laurence Scholder who ran the printmaking area at SMU.

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