The Almond Tree

Walter Crane prints bring the color and charm of Victorian storybooks into your home. Crane was one of the most influential children's book illustrators of his generation and a leading figure in the Arts and Crafts movement. This collection gathers art prints of his nursery rhymes and fairy tales, Beauty and the Beast, Flora's Feast, Shakespeare illustrations, decorative designs, paintings such as Neptune's Horses, and his banners for the labour movement.

About Walter Crane

Walter Crane was born in Liverpool on 15 August 1845, the second son of the portrait painter Thomas Crane. He admired the Pre-Raphaelites and studied the writings of John Ruskin. A set of colored designs for Tennyson's Lady of Shalott won the approval of the wood engraver William James Linton, and from 1859 to 1862 Crane was apprenticed to him.

In 1865 he began working with the printer Edmund Evans on "toy books", cheap, brightly colored picture books of nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Inspired by Japanese color prints, these books started a new fashion. His books include The Baby's Opera (1877), Household Stories from Grimm (1882) and Flora's Feast (1889), and he illustrated Spenser's Faerie Queene.

Crane was also a painter, designer of wallpapers, tiles and textiles, and a teacher, lecturing in Manchester and writing books on design. He helped found the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in 1888, was master of the Art Workers Guild, and worked with William Morris on the Kelmscott Press. A committed socialist, he designed many images for the labour movement. He died in Horsham on 14 March 1915, three months after his wife.

Style and Subjects

Crane's illustrations combine strong, flowing outlines, flat areas of bright color and rich decorative borders, influenced by Japanese prints, medieval art and the Pre-Raphaelites. Every page is designed as a whole, with text, image and ornament working together.

His subjects are nursery rhymes, fairy tales, fables, flowers turned into graceful figures, Greek myths and Shakespeare. In his paintings he loved allegory and movement, most famously in Neptune's Horses, where the white crests of waves become galloping horses.

Famous Works

• The Lady of Shalott (1862), Yale Center for British Art, New Haven. An early watercolor from Tennyson's poem.
• A Herald of Spring (1872), Birmingham Museums Trust. A graceful allegory of the new season.
• The Triumph of Music (1876), Yale Center for British Art, New Haven. A decorative allegory of music.
• The Baby's Opera (1877). His beloved book of English nursery songs, printed by Edmund Evans.
• Flora's Feast: A Masque of Flowers (1889). Garden flowers transformed into elegant figures.
• Neptune's Horses (1892), Neue Pinakothek, Munich. Galloping white horses rising from the crests of the waves.
• Spenser's Faerie Queene (1894–1897). His illustrated edition of the great Elizabethan poem.

Decorating with Crane Prints

Crane's nursery rhymes and fairy tales are perfect for a child's bedroom, nursery or playroom. Their bright colors and storybook charm look lovely in simple white or wooden frames and make an enchanting gallery wall.

Flora's Feast and his decorative designs suit a bedroom, garden room or kitchen, while Neptune's Horses makes a dramatic statement in a bathroom, hallway or coastal living room.

FAQ

What art movement was Walter Crane part of?

Crane was a leading figure of the Arts and Crafts movement and was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites. He is also remembered as a pioneer of children's book illustration.

What is Walter Crane's most famous work?

His painting Neptune's Horses (1892) is his best-known picture. His toy books, The Baby's Opera and Flora's Feast are among his most loved illustrated books.

Where can I see Crane's original work?

His paintings and drawings are in the Neue Pinakothek in Munich, the Yale Center for British Art, the Birmingham Museums, Tate and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow. His books are in many libraries.

How can you recognize a Walter Crane illustration?

Look for bold outlines, bright flat color, elegant figures and rich decorative borders, with the whole page designed as one harmonious pattern.

What were Walter Crane's toy books?

From 1865 Crane and the printer Edmund Evans produced several inexpensive, colorful picture books of nursery rhymes and fairy tales each year. They set a new standard for children's illustrated books.

Related Artists

• Kate Greenaway — fellow leading children's illustrator printed by Edmund Evans
• Randolph Caldecott — the third great Victorian children's illustrator of his era
• William Morris — Arts and Crafts leader he worked with at the Kelmscott Press
• William James Linton — the wood engraver he was apprenticed to
• Arthur Rackham — later British illustrator of fairy tales