If you tried to gauge which illustrator had the biggest impact on the art world as a whole, Walter Crane would have to be pretty high on your list. Born in Liverpool on 15th August 1845, Crane was born to portrait painter Thomas Crane, and his artistic roots took hold from an early age. By the end of his life, he’d turned his hand to an incredible number of art mediums, and although he is best remembered for his Toy Book illustrations he made big impacts in the world of design, textiles, ceramics and wallpapers. Despite this, his allegorical oil paintings were considered competent at best, and he was often turned down by the Royal Academy.

Aside from William Morris and John Ruskin, Walter Crane was probably the most important figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement, which sought reuse of the medieval themes and a focus on traditional craftsmanship. His youth spent as an apprentice to engraver W. J. Linton gave him firsthand experience of the artisan’s trade, and his later work illustrating the popular Toy Books of the Victorian age gave him a popular medium in which he could sample design ideas.

Crane’s Toy Books are what gave him his merit as an illustrator. Producing 2-3 a year between 1865 and 1876, they were iconic for being dominated by illustrations rather than text – the ‘Toy’ element of the name referring to triviality. His work with this field cemented his partnership with engraver Edmund Evans, whom he had already worked with in 1863 when he illustrated the cheap ‘yellowbacks’ of the time. Evans also employed Kate Greenaway and Randolph Caldecott as illustrators of Toy Books. Crane, Caldecott and Greenaway are collectively referred to as the Triumvirate of Toy Book illustrators, but among them Crane was the foremost then, and is still the foremost now. Their legacy influenced the production of many important children’s authors who produced small, illustrated books – most notably Beatrix Potter.

Aside from his beloved Toy Books, Crane turned his hand to illustrating an impressive number of children’s books. Today, we’ll take a look at his illustrations for my edition of Sir Henry Gilbert’s ‘King Arthurs Knights’. My copy of this has, unfortunately, seen better days, but Crane’s 16 beautiful colour plates are still lovely to look upon.

Crane has a legacy of appreciating medieval gallantry (his first illustration was of Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of Shalott’), and his Pre-Raphaelite influence is clear here in the sharply outlined, striking faces of the chivalrous court. But what is sadly lacking is Crane’s wonderful setting designs, which he tended to experiment with in his illustrations before producing. It is worth noting that this book was released in 1911, and is quite late for Crane, who died in 1915. Despite the lack of design incorporation, Crane’s appreciation for heraldry gets a true chance to shine with this story.

It’s a pity none of Crane’s black and white border design is used in this book – the 16 colour plates are his only contribution – but I intend to do a post on my Crane-illustrated edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales in the near future, which is beautifully drawn. Fans, watch this space!

John

Source material:

The Bases of Design – Walter Crane (George Bell & Sons, 1920)

An Artist’s Reminiscences – Walter Crane (Macmillan, 1907)

Walter Crane – Isobel Spencer (Studio Vista, 1975)

Walter Crane: Artist, Designer and Socialist – Greg Smith, Sarah Hyde (Lund Humphries, 1989)