Background

Walter Crane was born on August 15, 1845 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. He was a son of Thomas Crane, a portrait painter and miniaturist, and Marie (Kearsley) Crane. Also, Walter had a brother Thomas Crane, who was an illustrator and art director at Marcus Ward & Co. Lucy Crane, a writer, art critic and translator, was Walter's sister.

Education

During the period from 1859 to 1862, Walter was an apprentice of William James Linton in London, where he was able to study both the Italian old masters and contemporary work of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Millais. A further and important element in the development of his talent was the study of Japanese colour-prints.

Also, Crane studied art under the guidance of John Ruskin.

Career

In 1863, the printer Edmund Evans employed Crane to illustrate yellowbacks (popular novels), and in 1865 they began to collaborate. Crane’s first children’s books, "The House that Jack Built" and "Dame Trot and Her Comical Gat", were published with Evans's help in 1865. Crane and Evans partnership continued, and between 1865-1876, they produced two or three toy books each year.

His own easel pictures, chiefly allegorical in subject, include "The Bridge of Life" (1884) and "The Mower" (1891). The works were exhibited regularly at the Grosvenor Gallery and later at the New Gallery in London. "Neptune's Horses", which, with many other of Crane's pictures, came into the possession of Herr Ernst Seeger of Berlin, was exhibited at the New Gallery in 1893.

In 1894, he collaborated with William Morris on the page decoration of "The Story of the Glittering Plain", published at the Kelmscott press. The same year, Crane was appointed a director of design at the Manchester School of art. Two years later, in 1896, he started to work as an art director of Reading College and in 1898, he held the post of a principal of the Royal College of Art for a short time.

In his later years, theoretical writing became an important part of his output.

Achievements

• Walter Crane gained prominence for his illustrations of the "Faerie Queen", as well as numerous children's books. In 1884, he acted as the first president of Art Workers' Guild. Also, he co-founded Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in 1888. In 1904, Walter received Albert Medal.

Works

More photos

• illustration

  • She changed her into Spider

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • Morn, Noon, Eve, Night

  • With an effort he looked at them as they passed

  • The Norseman

  • He lefts assembly, hiding his face in his cloak

  • Lohengrin

  • Title page of Baby's Own Aesop

  • He ran toward the horse and seized the bridle

  • For two days and two nights the boat was and hither and thither

  • Often she would stand upon the walls of Troy

  • Miss America

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • The Briar Rose (triptych, right wing)

  • Ship dashed against ship, till the Persian Army dead strewed the deep like flowers

  • Yea, Verily, thou art odysseus

  • King Arthur Sir Bedivere throwing Excalibur into the lake

  • He stoods silent before King

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • An illustration of the fable of Hercules and the Wagoner

  • In the earlist times a simple foot-race was the only event

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • Declaration of Independence

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • Solon, the wise lawgiver of Athens

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • The Frenchman

  • The Dutchman

  • Sweet, piercing sweet was the music of Pan's pipe

  • The Briar Rose (triptych, left wing)

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • He drank the contents as though it were a draught of Wine

  • The Renaissance of Venus

  • Chicago

  • Suitors

  • Love's Altar

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • They crashed into Persian army with tremendous force

  • The figure of the Goddess was a Colossal one

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • Illustration for The Man That Pleased None

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • The Frog Prince and other stories

  • Baby's Own Aesop

  • United States

  • The baby's own Aesop

  • The Briar Rose (triptych, centre panel)

  • Columbia's Courtship

  • Illustration for The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner

  • Columbus

  • Demeter rejoiced, for her daughter was by her side

  • The wind - God sent a gust from the South

  • United States

  • He became a target for every arrow

  • The Swan Maidens

  • The House that Jack Built

  • The Englishman

  • The multitude saluted him with loud acclamations

  • Spain Conquered

• painting

  • Design for Peacock Garden Wallpaper

  • Swan and Rush and Iris wallpaper

  • The Angel of Peace

  • Almond Blossom and Swallow (Wallpaper Design)

  • Painting

  • The Aventine from the Palatine

  • Diana and Endymion

  • La belle Dame Sans Merci

  • Protestant Cemetery

  • La Primavera

  • Sculpture

  • Europe, Asia, Africa

  • The Triumph of Spring

  • Nyads and Dryads

  • At Home. A Portrait

  • Beatrice and Lionel Crane

  • Shelley's Tomb in the Protestant Cemetery

  • Red House, Bexleyheath

  • Syracuse, Anapo River

  • Ruth and Boaz

  • Summer

  • My Soul is an Enchanted Boat...

  • The Lady of Shalott

  • The Advent of Spring

  • Porte de France Tunis

  • Neptun's Horses

  • Laura reading

  • The Moat and Bishop's Palace, Wells Cathedral

  • Race of Hero Spirits Pass

  • Winter

  • Architecture

  • Craftsmanship

Politics

During the 1860's, Crane began to take an active role in politics as a supporter of the Liberal Party, and campaigned for the 1867 Reform Act. Also, he rejected the idea of achieving Socialism in the revolutionary way, believing, that the change of social formations should occur through the education of working class.

Membership

Walter was a Vice President of the Healthy and Artistic Dress Union, the aim of which was to promote the loose-fitting clothing, in opposition to "stiffness, tightness and weight'.

• founding member

  Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society , United Kingdom

  1888

• 

  Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours , United Kingdom

  1882 - 1886

• the first president

  Art Workers' Guild , United Kingdom

  1884

Personality

Crane was a committed socialist, who saw art as a tool for transforming society.

Interests

• Lawntennis, riding

Connections

Walter was married to Mary Frances Crane. Their marriage produced three children — Beatrice, Lionel and Lancelot. After 44 years of marriage, Mary Frances Crane was found dead on the railway tracks near Ashford, Kent, in England. It is believed, that she committed suicide.

Father:

Thomas Crane

Mother:

Marie (Kearsley) Crane

child:

Beatrice Crane

child:

Lionel Crane

child:

Lancelot Crane

Brother:

Thomas Crane

Sister:

Lucy Crane

Wife:

Mary Frances Crane

mentor:

William James Linton

mentor:

John Ruskin

References

• Walter Crane: The Arts and Crafts, Painting, and Politics
  2011
• V&A Pattern: Walter Crane
  2011
• Walter Crane: Picture Books
  2012