Kathan Brown (1935-2025) was an influential figure in contemporary printmaking who founded Crown Point Press in 1962 with her then-husband Jeryl Parker in Richmond, California.
Brown earned her B.A. from Antioch College in Ohio and studied at London Central School of Arts and Crafts before receiving an M.F.A. and honorary doctorates from California College of the Arts and San Francisco Art Institute.
She established Crown Point Press as a significant publisher of fine art etchings, initially operating from her Berkeley home before moving to San Francisco in 1986. The press became known for collaborating with renowned artists including Richard Diebenkorn and John Cage, who made his first etchings at Crown Point Press in January 1978.
Brown expanded the press’s reach through international projects, taking artists to Japan (1982-1989) to work with traditional woodcut printer Tadashi Toda, and to China (1987-1989) for similar artistic exchanges.
She authored several books on printmaking techniques, including Ink, Paper, Metal, Wood (1996) and her memoir Know That You Are Lucky (2012). Her work and archives are held by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Brown continued documenting and editing video of artists at Crown Point until her death in 2025.