Fashionable Promenades: Kensington Gardens on a Band Day
Artist: Walter Crane (1845–1915)
Engraver: W. J. Linton
1862
Wood-engraving
7 ½ x 4 ½ inches
Illustration for London Society 2 (July–December 1862), facing p.172. This image is quite unlike Crane’s other work for children’s books and it is interesting, further, to consider how it fits with his political beliefs as a socialist. It is possible, perhaps, to detect an element of satirical overstatement in his showing of the ‘wealthy idle’. Nevertheless, the effect is celebratory rather than critical, and perfectly expresses the magazine’s emphasis on showy display.
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke