In the Earliest Times a Simple Foot-Race Was the Only Event - Walter Crane
Archival giclée
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Description
This illustration by Walter Crane depicts a foot race in ancient Greece, showcasing his stylised figures and classical architectural details. The artwork uses a soft colour palette to create a harmonious composition.
Walter Crane (1845-1915) was a British artist and book illustrator. He is considered one of the most influential children's book creators of his generation, alongside Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway. Crane was a versatile artist, producing paintings, illustrations, and decorative designs. He advocated the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement, which championed craftsmanship and the integration of art into everyday life. His work often featured mythological, historical, and allegorical subjects, rendered in a distinctive style characterised by flat planes of colour, strong outlines, and decorative patterns. 'In the Earliest Times a Simple Foot-Race Was the Only Event' depicts a scene from ancient Greece, showing a foot race in progress. The runners, clad in simple white garments, are depicted in mid-stride, their bodies conveying a sense of motion and energy. A crowd of spectators, rendered in a stylised manner, watches from below. The background features classical architecture, including columns and temples, evoking the atmosphere of ancient Greece. The illustration is executed in a limited colour palette, with soft tones of blue, beige, and red, creating a harmonious and visually appealing composition.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. EU customers have a 14-day cooling-off right. See our refunds page for full details.
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Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
In the Earliest Times a Simple Foot-Race Was the Only Event - Walter Crane
Our Features
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Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Choose poster, framed print, canvas or framed canvas
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
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Artist Biography
Walter Crane
He began as a children's book illustrator, apprenticed to the wood engraver W.J. Linton. His Toy Books for the publisher Routledge, produced from 1865 onward, used flat areas of colour, strong outlines and decorative borders influenced by Japanese woodblock prints and the Pre-Raphaelites. They were among the first mass-produced children's books to treat illustration as a design problem rather than an afterthought.
During a lecture tour of the United States he spoke in favour of clemency for the anarchists sentenced to death after the Haymarket Affair. His wealthy American patrons cancelled engagements. Crane did not retract.
He became Vice President of the Healthy and Artistic Dress Union, a movement promoting loose-fitting clothing in opposition to tight Victorian corsetry. He wrote The Claims of Decorative Art, arguing that decorative art was not a lesser form. He was Art Director of the Art Workers' Guild and the first president of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society.
He wanted to be taken seriously as a painter of allegorical canvases, but the galleries would not exhibit them. The children's books and the socialist cartoons are what lasted. Morris would have appreciated the irony.
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