Curwen: Art, Words and Music in Print

10 July - 11 September 2010

The Reverend John Curwen (1816-1880), a minister of the Congregational Church, founded the Curwen Press in 1863. During the Industrial Revolution, emphasis was on personal commitment to holy living and salvation, and Congregationalists, Quakers and Unitarians became the new aristocracy in their roles as employers, active citizens and charitable givers.

At this time, John Curwen viewed singing as a way of bringing people together, and from a chance meeting with Sarah Glover (1785-1867) in a chapel in Norwich, developed an interest in her newly invented way of writing and reading music, known as the tonic sol-fa. The tonic sol-fa was simpler to learn and cheaper to reproduce in printed form than conventional musical notation. This invention soon became popular as John Curwen moved to a chapel in Plaistow, Essex, and set up his own Sunday school where he used the technique when teaching hymn singing to the children.

In 1863 he decided to print versions of the tonic sol-fa for distribution and this was the beginning of the Curwen Press. By 1891, some 2, 500 000 people across Britain were being taught in this way and there was a great revival in choral singing and standards. The concept soon became popular throughout Welsh congregations, and was promoted by individuals such as John Roberts (‘Ieuan Gwyllt’, 1822 - 1877) and Robert Griffiths (1824 - 1903), which lead to a widespread revival in choral singing in Wales.

The Press’ association with art came much later when the business was inherited by the grandchildren of John Curwen, Harold & Kenneth. Under their ownership, the Press began to experiment more with new techniques in printing colour, and took on a new direction in bringing together words and illustration in the 1920s with artists such as Paul Nash (1889 - 1946) and Edward Bawden (1903 - 1989). 

Its connection with Welsh art and artists came in the late 1950s, when the Press set up the Curwen Studio to work with artists who were interested in the idea of original print making, and worked closely with Ceri Richards (1903 - 1971), Josef Herman (1911 - 2000) and John Piper (1903 - 1992). All were attracted by the quality and expertise in lithographic techniques developed by the Press & Studio. The association with Welsh art has continued to the present day with the ongoing production of work by artists such as Kyffin Williams (1918 - 2006), Karel Lek (1929 - ) and Wilf Roberts (1941 - ). To celebrate the exhibition, The National Library has commissioned the Curwen Studio to create a limited edition print from a work by the late Kyffin Williams.

Today, when many households have their own in-house printmaking facilities in the form of the inkjet printer, the ethos of the Curwen Studio has remained unchanged. They preserve a strong belief in the value and excitement of plates, paper, ink and presses as a means to creating original images. The Studio is a unique organisation in fine art printing and despite its outstanding international reputation it still maintains a deep-rooted relationship with Wales.