CURWEN GALLERY
As Curwen Press it was founded in 1863 in Plaistow, East London by the Reverend John Curwen (1816–1880) when it produced sheet music. His grandson Harold Spedding Curwen (16 November 1885-6 May 1949) joined in 1908 and broadened their scope to include limited edition books of high quality. In 1920, Oliver Joseph Simon (28 April 1895-18 March 1956) joined and through his contact with the Royal College of Art gave commissions to young artists. These included Edward Bawden, Paul Nash (1889-1946) and Eric Stephen Ravilious (1904-1962). The Press continued during the Second World War by producing propaganda leaflets, themselves now collectors’ items. Due to the appearance of artists' prints, the Curwen Press established the Curwen Studio in 1958. Artists working under this new arm included Alan Davie (1920-2014), Elisabeth Frink, Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975), Josef Herman, Henry Spencer Moore (1898-1986), John Egerton Christmas Piper (1903-1992) and Graham Vivian Sutherland (1903-1980), all of whom produced many important lithographs. Originally based at the Royal Academy, they later moved to 34 Windmill Street, which was once a base for fan clubs of major bands. John Hutchings joined this enterprise the 1960s as Financial Director, and in 1978 becoming the Chairman and in 1982, Curwen was put up for sale when John Hutchings and his wife Jill took over the gallery and print studio to save it from closure. In 1987 Business Art Galleries became an independent company called the New Academy Gallery and relocated to 34 Windmill Street, the opposite side of the road from Curwen Gallery at number 4. The two galleries continued independently until 2005 when they merged under one roof at number 34 as Curwen and New Academy Gallery. The Curwen Gallery in Windmill Street auctioned off a range of lithographs from its famous studio in March 2024, as well as a range of contemporary art prior to its closure. Suffolk artists who worked with the Curwen Gallery include Pauline Aitken, Dale Devereux Barker, Lyn Berwick, Wendy Brooke-Smith, John Reginald Brunsdon, Moyra Byford, Stella Davis, Jonathan Peter Gibbs, David Haste, Malcolm Moseley, David Poole, Bill Pryde, Zoë Rubens and Colin Wilkin.