It’s 2018 and we’re still screen printing?! Let’s have a look at where this all started.

While screen printing today may evoke images of Andy Warhol, bespoke prints in East London coffee shops, and something called a ‘squeegee’, it all started with the Song Dynasty in China around the 17th century. After being further developed in Japan, screen printing finally hit Europe in the early 1900s.

After arriving in England, Samuel Simon patented his technique which used silk (hence the term ‘silk screen printing’ we use today). At the time, this process became highly popular amongst the elite, primarily used for printing wallpaper.

But in the 1930s, screen printing made its way over to the US, where it would eventually become a fundamental piece of the pop art movement in the ’60s. It was here where artists we still know and love, the likes of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Corita Kent, popularised the technique making it more accessible than its past exposure.

For more on the tales of screen printing, we suggest you head over here for a detailed account. Happy screen printing!