70s

After Raphael comes off the press
After Raphael comes off the press
St Catherine's College tapestry, detail
Tapestry for St Catherine's College Oxford (detail), 1978
Slegs Vir Almal
Slegs Vir Almal: African Masks [no. 2], 1974
Flags detail
54 Union Jacks Occuring On Postcards (detail), 1974
A Humument page
Page from A Humument 1973
Benches detail
Benches (detail), 1970
  • 1979
  • Publishes set of Composers prints based on his collage series
  • Waddingtons publish nine large screenprints from Dante’s Inferno
  • British Council touring exhibition of Tom Phillips graphics begins in the Netherlands and tours Italy, Spain, South America and Iraq until 1988
  • 1978
  • Eno produces recording of Irma (on his own Obscure label) to a controversial arrangement by Gavin Bryars
  • Phillips writes his first reviews for TLS
  • Tapestries installed at St Catherine's College, Oxford
  • Self portrait with linoleum
  • Begins Ashanti Weights sketchbook as meditation on his fledgling collection
  • 1977
  • Begins Dante Diary and series of daily drawings of Dante’s bust
  • Fire at Editions Alecto destroys work on Dante’s Inferno: Phillips decides to continue the project independently and will create one of the finest livres d’artiste of the 20th century. Phillips works to his own translation and every detail of the book, the binding, even the paper is bespoke. He assembles a production team and will spend the next ten years on the project
  • Series of exhibitions in Australia: the Australian National Gallery at Canberra purchases his entire print archive
  • Drawing: A Film made by Arts Council/Arbor Films
  • Humument Page 85 variations published by Coriander Press
  • 1976
  • Meets Pella Erskine Tulloch at his one man show at the Serpentine Gallery
  • A Humument completed and published
  • Begins illustrations to Dante’s Inferno at Editions Alecto
  • A Walk to the Studio series of prints is published
  • Work begins on tapestries for St Catharine’s College, Oxford
  • Designs a print to celebrate the opening of the new National Theatre and a further print Shakespeare in America
  • The Mappin Wall installation is shown at the Mappin Gallery in Sheffield and at the opening John Tilbury plays a concert of Phillips's works
  • 1975
  • Last Notes from Endenich pastel is completed and developed into a music performance with Jean-Yves Bosseur
  • Several major one man shows in this year at Gemeente and Kunstalle Basel where he meets Ruth & Marvin Sackner, who have huge significance in the rest of his career as both patrons and friends
  • Begins FVZ diaries
  • A detail of After Raphael is used as the cover art to Brian Eno album Another Green World
  • Publishes Imaginary Postcards with Jonathan Williams
  • 1974
  • Completes Slegs vir Almal series and associated South Africa works as a politicised response to apartheid
  • Begins large group of works based on Conjectured Flags
  • Finishes 50 Recapitulatory Paintings for monograph Works Texts to 74 published by editions Hansjorg Mayer
  • Designs Starless and Bible Black album cover for King Crimson, featuring stencil lettering and fragment from A Humument ('this night wounds time')
  • 1973
  • Begins annual photographic work 20 Sites n Years which he continues each year and performs as an occasional lecture at the Tate
  • Starts series of collage works Composers Series
  • A Humument exhibited in its entirety at the ICA
  • Further exhibitions at Marlborough Gallery and Kunsthalle Bern
  • December visit to South Africa starts a lifetime interest in African art and the beginning of a collection
  • John Cage’s book Silence: Lectures and Writings published, Phillips interested in the ideas of Cage which he develops visually
  • 1972
  • Decides to give up teaching, leaving his position at Wolverhampton College of Art
  • Begins work on Mappin Wall, paints Angela Flowers (Judgement of Paris…), finishes After Raphael and a music score using the cut up technique, Lesbia Waltz
  • Tom Phillips on judging panel for John Moores Exhibition
  • 1971
  • Gastdozent at the school of art in Kassel
  • Paints Ein Deutches Requiem
  • Tate Gallery purchases Benches
  • With the publication of Trailer (a trailer to A Humument), Tom Phillips begins a creative partnership with his publisher Hansjorg Mayer that will continue over 40 years
  • First Tetrad Press volumes of A Humument appear
  • Exhibition Paintings &c 1965-71 tours UK
  • 1970
  • Begins Benches and Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Gardens (two panels, one of which he works on in Wolverhampton, the other at home in London
  • First one man show at Flowers Gallery
  • Begins Terminal Greys, a work he continues to the present
  • First performance of Irma at the Bordeaux Festival
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