The Curwen Press was founded by the Reverend John Curwen in 1863 to publish sheet music for the "tonic sol-fa" system.[1] The Press was based in Plaistow, Newham, east London, England, where Curwen was a pastor from 1844.[2] The Curwen Press, under the management of Harold Curwen, John's grandson, was at the vanguard of the design revolution that saw expression in British printing in the early 20th century.[3] Many well-known graphic artists, including Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden, Claud Lovat Fraser, Paul Nash and Barnett Freedman worked with Curwen.[4] The Press's output included books, posters and published ephemera.
Artists at Curwen [1], written by Art Historian Pat Gilmour, was published by the Tate Gallery - now known as the Tate Modern - to coincide with the exhibition Artists at Curwen: A Celebration of the Gift of Artists' Prints from the Curwen Studio. The exhibition was held at the Tate in London from 23 February to 11 April 1977 and included works by artists such as Harold Curwen, Edward Bawden, E. McKnight Kauffer, Eric Ravilious, John Nash and Barnett Freedman. Pat Gilmour was Curator of Prints at the Tate Gallery in London during the 1970s. In 1981 she went on to set up the Department of International Prints and Illustrated Books at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra where she was Senior Curator from 1981 to 1990.