William Tillyer: Print Catalogue Raisonné

William Tillyer occupies a singular position in post-war British art, distinguished by a lifelong commitment to expanding the possibilities of printmaking. From the 1950s Tillyer’s prints, whether etched, screenprinted, or developed through more experimental means, reveal an artist who approaches the graphic medium not as a vehicle for reproduction but as a laboratory for invention.

This catalogue raisonné brings together, for the first time, the full breadth of Tillyer’s printed oeuvre. Tillyer has always been drawn to the meeting of order and flux. The grid intervenes like human order, the resistant plate and the unpredictable wash of aquatint disperse like weather, all serve him as instruments in a dialogue between what can be controlled and what must simply be allowed to occur. In this he belongs to a tradition of British art attentive to landscape not as a picturesque subject but as a testing ground for perception. Yet his work refuses nostalgia. It engages instead with the fact of nature as a shifting presence, one that continually challenges the fixed structures we impose upon it.

By documenting every known edition, proof, and variant, this catalogue provides not only a reference tool but also a narrative of artistic evolution. It positions Tillyer’s prints within the wider context of British and international graphic art and highlights his contribution to expanding the expressive vocabulary of contemporary printmaking. What emerges is a portrait of an artist who has consistently approached the medium with generosity, conviction and a sense of wonder.

Tillyer’s prints invite sustained looking. They remind us that the act of making is itself an exploration of material, environment, and perception. This online catalogue celebrates that exploration and affirms William Tillyer’s place as one of the most innovative and thoughtful printmakers of his generation.