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46 The catalogue introduction states that prints in this exhibition were made by '…the extensive use of transfer- paper.' Although used some 80 years before the method of transfer lithography allowed artists to work in the comfort of their own studio to draw on the acetate sheets which were then given to expert printers to transfer to plates or stones. Only part of the printing was done in England at the Chiswick Press which was prepared to undertake some of the work. The rest was printed in Paris by the master printer, Louis Ravel, who was introduced to the sisters by the painter Pierre-Eugene Clairin. Commercial firms began to see the multiple original print as a perfect vehicle to promote their businesses and also to play their part as patrons of living art. In 1948 J. Lyons & Co. Ltd. published a series of 16 prints to decorate their restaurants and teashops. They were also available for sale over the counter. The brewing firm of Guinness also sponsored a series of lithographs later in 1956 which were printed at the Curwen Press. Here the promotional theme was for the artists to choose some aspect of the famous Guinness Book of Records as the subject of their print. As part of the Festival of Britain celebrations in 1951, the Arts Council sponsored an exhibition of Lithographs by Contemporary Artists - First and Second Series published by J. Lyons & Co. Ltd. They also sponsored a series of lithographs published by the A.I.A. (Artists International Association). Another cause for celebration was the Coronation in 1953. For this the Royal College of Art published a set of forty colour lithographs on the theme of the Coronation celebrations. The project was organised by Edwin La Dell and included work by Colquhoun, Richards, Piper, Minton, Vaughan, Ayrton and Scott. However, it was the Rt. Hon. Robert Erskine who became the first professional champion of contemporary British prints. His vitality and enthusiasm was to change the direction of printmaking in Britain. While up at Cambridge during the early 1950s Erskine's interest was first stirred by an exhibition of prints published by the Zurich based Guilde de la Gravure at Heffer's Art Gallery. He later met an American printmaker, Sam Kaner, and together they paid several visits to the Atelier Lacouriere in Paris. Erskine was smitten by the ateliers and it was inevitable that he should open his St. George's Gallery at 7 Cork Street, Printmaking in post-war Britain was in a rather amateur state until the late 1950s through to the 'print-boom' of the 1960s. In spite of lagging behind an established professional atelier system in Paris, a wealth of interesting and innovative work was produced during the period. Artist printmakers were anxious to experiment, explore new techniques and to observe, if not absorb, the influences of the Ecole de Paris and the New York Abstract Expressionists. One of the major factors in the development of British printmaking during the immediate post-war years was the emergence of the original colour lithograph. The end of the war brought an urge to shake off the traditions of the past and to adopt a more experimental and innovative approach to the visual arts. The art schools were now open to all-comers thanks mainly to ex-servicemen's grants which greatly assisted those previously barred by financial constraints. Generally, the art that prevailed during the mid forties was still embedded in British Romanticism, rooted in the mysticism of Blake and Palmer, resurrected by Sutherland and his associates at Goldsmith's during the 1920s and later in the work of such artists as Keith Vaughan and John Minton. During the latter half of the 1940s London did not as yet enjoy the traditional expertise of the Paris ateliers. Excellent printers did exist in Britain but mainly as technicians in the printmaking departments of the art schools. The Devenish brothers, George and Ernest were printers; George was at the Royal College of Art printmaking department run by Edwin La Dell. Ernest was the 'master printer' at the Central School. The Millers Press was set up in 1945 by Frances Byng Stamper and her artist sister Caroline Lucas who at the outbreak of war moved into 'Millers', a townhouse in Lewes, East Sussex where they commissioned and encouraged British artists to work in a medium not then fully appreciated in this country. To further their interest in prints, the sisters, in conjunction with the Redfern Gallery, founded the Society of London Painter-Printers in 1948. In December of that year the newly formed Society held their first exhibition. POST-WAR & MODERN BRITISH I Post-War & Modern British

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