Walter Crane (1845-1915) was born in Liverpool, England; the second son of Thomas Crane, a portrait painter and miniaturist. He was a fluent follower of the newer art movements and he came to study and appreciate the detailed senses of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and was also a diligent student of the renowned artist and critic John Ruskin. A set of coloured page designs to illustrate Tennyson's “Lady of Shalott” gained the approval of wood-engraver William James Linton to whom Walter Crane was apprenticed for three years (1859–1862).
As a wood-engraver he had abundant opportunity for the minute study of the contemporary artists whose work passed through his hands, of Pre-Raphaelites Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais, as well as Alice in Wonderland illustrator Sir John Tenniel and Frederick Sandys. A further and important element in the development of his talent was the study of Japanese colour prints, the methods of which he imitated in a series of toy books, which started a new fashion.
For more information on Crane, and for a series on his illustrated books, see "Walter Crane books" in the side index.
This is part 6 of a 6-part series on individual works by Walter Crane:
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| 1904 The Formal Garden wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper 83.8 x 57.2 cm |
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| 1904 The Formal Garden wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper 83.8 x 57.2 cm |
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| 1906 Exhibition of Modern German Art watercolour design for a poster 38.7 x 27.7 cm |
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| 1906 Earthenware dish, Lancastrian Pottery Pilkingtons Tile and Pottery Company 48 cm Diameter |
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| 1907 Frontispiece Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes by Robert Louis Stevenson published by Chatto and Windus |
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| 1908 Rosamund wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper 53.3 x 51.5 cm |
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| 1908 Macaw wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper |
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| 1908 Macaw wallpaper colour woodblock print on paper |
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| 1908 England and France furnishing fabric woven wool and cotton 198 x 143.5 cm |
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| 1909 On Liberality, Selfridge & Co. line-block and letterpress 68.4 x 50.7 cm |
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| 1909 Saxon wallpaper colour print from wood blocks on paper 73.7 x 52.1 cm Jeffrey & Co. |
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| 1911 St. George against the Dragon Alcohol lithograph 33.7 x 57.3 cm |
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| 1911 Wallpaper design colour wood-block print, on paper 45.2 x 83.8 cm |
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| 1912 Vineyard wallpaper by Jeffrey & Co. England colour woodblock print |
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| 1916 The Woman Worker journal process engraving |
Note: Dates were not found for the remainder of images in this post, so are shown alphabetically by caption.
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| A Herald of Spring engraving 24.8 x 16.1 cm Courtauld Institute of Art, London |
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| Book Jacket "He Cometh Not She Said" wood or process engraving, colour lithography |
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| Christmas Card colour wood engraving 7.6 x 10.9 cm |
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| Christmas Card colour wood engraving 7.6 x 10.9 cm |
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| Daphne's Daring book jacket wood or process engraving, colour lithography |
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| Design for a cover for the Scottish Art Review pen and watercolour on paper 36 x 24.5 cm National Galleries Scotland |
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| Design for a Shakespeare Memorial pen and black ink with gray wash heightened with white on brown wove pape 55 x 39.6 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
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| Design in Stencil watercolour 69.8 x 18.5 cm |
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| Drawing for "The Capitalist" pen and ink 38.1 x 27.9 cm The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens |
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| Ex Libris E. Alec Tweedie. London pen and black ink touched with white on card © The Trustees of the British Museum |
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| Lines from Wordsworth's ode 'Intimations of Immortality' hand-coloured woodcut © The Trustees of the British Museum |
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| Lines from Wordsworth's ode 'Intimations of Immortality' woodcut © The Trustees of the British Museum |
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| Prince Charming in the Forest pen and brush and red ink 29.3 x 25.5 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC |
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| Puss In Boots design for a Christmas pantomime poster pencil, ink & watercolour on paper 14 x 10.5 cm © Manchester Art Gallery, UK |
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| Recumbent female figure red and white chalk on brown paper © The Trustees of the British Museum |
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| Routledge's World Library "Common Objects of the Sea-Shore" wood- or process engraving, colour lithography |
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| "Keep the Wolf from the Door" Scottish Widows Life Assurance process engraving |
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| Socialism, Fabian Eassays wood or process engraving, colour lithography |
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| Studies of Oxen and Carts graphite on paper © The Trustees of the British Museum |
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| Study of Pigeons black chalk, heightened with white, on blue paper © The Trustees of the British Museum |
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| Tea at Red House watercolour on paper The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA |
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| The Capitalist pen over pencil 38.1 x 27.9 cm The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA |
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| The Craftsman's Dream pen and ink on paper 38.1 x 27.9 cm The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, CA |
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| The World's Conquerers watercolour 19 x 48.5 cm V&A Museum, London |
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| The World's Conquerers detail |
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| The World's Conquerers detail |
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| Three Female Figures Dancing body-colour and white on brown paper © The Trustees of the British Museum |
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| Three Female Figures Dancing detail |
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| Three Female Figures Dancing detail |
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| Three Female Figures Dancing detail |
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| Vasilissa the Wise from "Folk and Fairy Tales" pen and ink on paper 18.7 x 11.9 cm (image) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA |
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| View of Tunis gouache watercolour on paper 26.6 x 36.9 cm Musée d'Orsay, Paris |