Merlyn Evans (1910-1973) was born in Cardiff. He attended Glasgow School of Art (1927-1930) and then held a scholarship at The Royal College of Art (1931–1933). After various travels and military service, he settled in London, which was to remain the base for his work until his death.

Evans was a highly respected figure in the development of twentieth-century British art, exhibiting at the Whitechapel and Tate art galleries. He was a remarkable painter and draughtsman, but it might be argued that it was as a spectacularly gifted and inventive printmaker that he exerted his strongest influence. Between 1930 and 1973 he made around 100 etching, engraving and mezzotint plates most of which were printed in very small numbers. His technically complex work over the two decades after the war showed him to be the pre-eminent intaglio printmaker of the period.

Evan’s work can currently be seen in the group exhibition In the Very Bowels of Changes: Surrealism and Antifascism, at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw until 10 January 2027. His most recent solo exhibition, Merlyn Evans: The Life of Forms, ran from 21 September to 27 October 2013 at the New Art Centre. A monograph of his life and work by Mel Gooding was published in 2010, and his work can be found in several collections including the Tate, V&A, National Galleries of Scotland and the National Museum of Wales.

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