The art of William Curran

31/07/2026

This is a poem by Bill’s Father, that Bill transcribed and illustrated. I don’t think my Grandfather would have been one for writing poetry normally but threshing day inspired him. The combination of sunny days in his youth, the community gathering and most of all the presence of a steam traction engine on the farm were very fond memories for him. The 2nd photo is Bill’s father Tom Curran.

19/07/2026

I was delighted to attend the opening of the ‘Come Fly With Me’ exhibition last Thursday at the National Print Museum, curated by Dr. Linda King.
The exhibition is primarily about Aer Lingus and its Dutch graphic designers but also includes a few Irish tourism posters including one by Bill. Great to see all these artworks on display. A free exhibition, open now and running until the 17th of December.

01/05/2026

I was fortunate to see one of Bill’s posters up for auction in Dublin recently. It is one I didn’t have and I was able to purchase it. So good to see it in real life. I assume the brief for this was to convey the welcome and not so much the green landscapes often used in Irish tourism posters. It is the land of a hundred thousand welcomes after all. The poster is approx. 100 x 64cm.

16/04/2026

Lovely illustration for a Will’s cigarette ad. Looks like a scraperboard drawing. I imagine this would be from the ‘40s or ‘50s.

23/03/2026

This is an oil painting by Bill and a copy of a print produced from it, of a ship at the Customs House along the Liffey. The painting was done in reverse, presumably for whatever printing process was to be used. It seems to have been a commission from the Royal Dublin Society based on the information on the back of the print.
My guess is the ship may be called the Golden Vale, the Golden Vale being a particularly fertile area in Ireland. Perhaps it was a ship that exported Irish agricultural produce. I reckon this could be from the 1950s, the Customs House area has certainly changed since then.

16/02/2026

I have 3 different book related designs by Bill which I have long assumed were for a competition and indeed they were. In online newspaper archives I found articles about a competition in 1959 to promote the sale of books. The judge was the famous graphic designer Abram Games. I even found an image of him studying one of Bill’s poster designs from the competition. I don’t know if Bill got to meet Abram Games but I hope he did as he was a great admirer of his work.

02/02/2026

This is a piece by Bill from 1963 for Fordson tractors done when he was working at O’Keeffe’s Limited. I believe it won an award mentioned in the newspaper cutting from The Kerryman. The ad can be seen on the same page as a piece about O’Keeffe’s agency, where graphic designer Jarlath Hayes is shown with Raymond J O’Keeffe.
The awards exhibition was apparently sponsored by ICAD and held in the College of Art on Kildare Street, Dublin.

22/01/2026