“Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Walter Crane was the son of portrait painter Thomas Crane. At 13 he was apprenticed to a wood engraver. He began exhibiting at the Royal Academy at 16. Crane failed to gain recognition for his paintings, becoming better known for children’s book illustrations and designs for wallpapers, tiles and textiles. Influenced by William Morris, he joined the Social Democratic Federation in 1884. He was a founder member of the Art-Workers’ Guild and helped establish the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, serving as its President. In 1891-92, a retrospective of his work toured the US. He became Director of Design at the Manchester School of Art (1893) and Principal of the Royal College of Art (1898). He died in 1915, shortly after his wife’s suicide.

Places

Subjects

horseback, illustration/graphic, evening, horse, Knight, road, house, thatched roof, tower

Materials & Techniques

paper (as artists material), watercolour (as artists materials), watercolour (as object name)

Artist

Walter Crane (1845 - 1915)

Title

“Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”

Date

1911

Medium

Watercolour on paper

Dimensions

height: 35.80 cm, width: 25.30 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Frank Gallery, June 1966

Inscription

br: 1911 [either side of] monogram

Provenance

Collection of Charles Jerdein; from whom purchased by the Frank Gallery, London, on 26 May 1965, for £115; from whom purchased by the Ministry of Works in June 1966

GAC number

7464