Kathan Brown

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Kathan Brown
Born1935 (age 88–89)
New York City, New York, U.S.
EducationAntioch College
Occupation(s)master printmaker, writer, lecturer, entrepreneur.
Known forPrintmaking
Spouse(s)Jeryl Parker (m. 1960–1963; divorce),
Tom Marioni (m. 1983–present)
Children1

Kathan Brown (born 1935) is an American

Ed Ruscha, Kiki Smith and Pat Steir
, have worked there.

Early life and education

Brown was born in

California College of Arts and Crafts.[3] In addition, she holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from California College of the Arts (CCA) and the San Francisco Art Institute.[3]

Career

In 1956, Brown left Antioch College in Ohio for one year to attend the

Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. There, she began to study etching. After graduating from Antioch College in 1958,[4] Brown returned to the Central School for another year to fine-tune her technique. In addition, she participated in the Print Workshop at 28 Charlotte Street, run by Birgit Skiöld.[5]

In the summer of 1959, while on a holiday trip to Edinburgh, Brown noticed an old etching press in the backyard of her rooming house. The landlady offered the press to Brown, saying it had been there since World War II. With the etching press in tow, Brown booked passage on a freighter going to San Francisco from Glasgow via the Panama Canal.

In 1962, Brown started Crown Point Press in a storefront space in Richmond, California. The following year she bought a house in Berkeley and ran the printmaking workshop out of her basement. In 1965, Brown began publishing the etching portfolios of Richard Diebenkorn and Wayne Thiebaud. The Press moved into a vacant hat factory on San Pablo Avenue in Oakland in 1971 and then to Folsom Street in San Francisco in 1986. Unfortunately, the Folsom Street space was lost in the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. In 1990, Crown Point moved to 20 Hawthorne Street in San Francisco where it resides today.

In recent years, Brown has shifted much of her focus to writing and left the day-to-day operations of the press to director Valerie Wade who is a partner in the business. In 2006, Crown Point began publishing a series of books about printmaking, the Magical Secrets series. Brown wrote the first book in the series, Magical Secrets about Thinking Creatively: The Art of Etching and the Truth of Life, which highlights various creative processes artists have embraced while working in the Crown Point studio. Art on Paper magazine reviewed Magical Secrets about Thinking Creatively saying, “Brown combines printmaking, art history, memoir and how-to inspirational literature to address the creative process. She’s wise, forthcoming and down-to-earth”.[6] In 2004, Brown wrote The North Pole, a book detailing her trip to the North Pole through photographs and interviews with travelers, scientists, and a polar archivist. Brown is also the author of a monthly video segment, The Three Minute Egg, where she discusses the creative process.

Over the years, Crown Point’s roster has grown to include over 100 artists from all around the world. Crown Point’s archives have been held at the

California Palace of the Legion of Honor
. Today, Crown Point Press publishes the work of five artists a year, hosts printmaking workshops and publishes a series of books about printmaking. The Press will be fifty years old in 2012.

Personal life

Brown married Jeryl Parker in 1960 and had a son, Kevin Powis Parker, in 1961.[8] Parker and Brown amicably separated in 1963 and later divorced.

In 1983, she married conceptual artist Tom Marioni.[9] They make their home in San Francisco.

Published work

Books by Brown

Contribution by Brown

Honors and awards

  • 1965 – Award for Etching, California Society of Etchers
  • 1983 – Arts Commission, City of San Francisco, Award of Honor
  • 1985 – Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, California College of Arts and Crafts[3]
  • 1990 – Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, San Francisco Art Institute[3]
  • 1993 – Outstanding Achievement Award, ArtTable, Inc., Northern California Chapter
  • 1997 – Cyril Award for Business Excellence, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, San Francisco, California

References

  1. ^ "Oral history interview with Kathan Brown, 2017 December 15-18". www.aaa.si.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  2. ^ Tallman, Susan. 1996. The Contemporary Print from Pre-Pop to Postmodern. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Kathan Brown". FAMSF Search the Collections. 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  4. ^ "Kathan Brown". Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) Explore the Art. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  5. ^ Birgit Skiold (1959). "Archive and Library Reading Room Blythe House, V&A, AAD/1997/18/383". 1959 Log from The Print Workshop. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  6. ^ Helfand,Glen. "Magical Secrets About Thinking Creatively: The Art of Etching and the Truth of Life, Review." Art on paper, July/August 2006
  7. ^ Gerard, Stephen (September 1997). "Thirty-Five Years at Crown Point Press". Vol. 4, no. 1. Articulate Contemporary Art Review. p. 12.
  8. ^ Abate, Tom (2003-11-12). "SPOTLIGHT / Kevin Parker: His pastime became his life's work". SFGate. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  9. ^ Writer, Jesse Hamlin, Chronicle Staff (1997-09-28). "Crowning Achievement / For 35 years, print publisher has pressed the point that etching is serious art". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-08-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

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