'Transport' Frieze (Walter Crane, 1896-7)

Walter Crane (1845-1915) Walter Crane is considered as one of the most important children's book illustrators as well as influential designer and socialist artist.

He was born in Liverpool on 15 August 1845. His family moved to London in 1857 where he became a student under the famous wood engraver William James Linton and became interested in politics. In the 1860s he began to be politically active.

By 1870 he was established as a talented book illustrator for children and as a ceramic designer for Wedgwood. By the mid-1870s he was designing wallpapers (for Jeffrey & Co.) and tiles (Maw and Co.). He also had paintings accepted by the Royal Academy and had several exhibitions in London Art Galleries.

In 1881 Crane became a close friend of William Morris. They both deplored the effects of modern manufacturing and the commercial system of craftsmanship and design. Crane became involved in the establishment of the Art and Crafts Exhibition Society.

By the late 1880s Crane was considered Britain's leading socialist artist and was asked to illustrate books such as Chants of Labour by Edward Carpenter and The New Party by Andrew Reid. Crane also provided the art work for The Triumph of Labour, a poster that commemorated May Day in 1891. A collection of Crane's political cartoons, Cartoons for the Cause, was published as a souvenir of the International and Trade Union Congress that met in London in 1896.

Crane's work during this period was to have a lasting impression on the art of the labour movement in Britain. Between the 1880s and the First World War, the socialist iconography developed by Crane can be seen on posters, pamphlets, membership cards and trade union banners. Crane's work was also widely circulated in Europe; in Italy and Germany his reputation as an artist was greater than it was in England.

Walter Crane died on 14th March, 1915, three months after his wife Mary was killed by a train.

Lord Cowdray's Dining Room

Lady Cowdray on a silver bicycle bought at Tiffany’s in New York in 1894. Click HERE for an an article about the bicycle in The Veteran-Cycle Club magazine.

Walking
Walking

Boat and wheel

Train
Train

Cars
Cars

Coach and four

Flying - Icarus ...

... and his father

Feet, boat, horse and wheel

The labourers and acknowledgement of the craftsmen