Illustration by Kate Greenaway
GREENAWAY, KATE (1846-1901), English artist and book illustrator, was the daughter of John Greenaway, a well-known draughtsman and engraver on wood, and was born in London on the I7th of March 1846. After a course of study at South Kensington, at Heatherleys life classes, and at the Slade School, Kate Greenaway began, in 1868, to exhibit watercolor drawings at the Dudley Gallery, London. Her more remarkable early work, however, consisted of Christmas cards, which, by reason of their quaint beauty of design and charm enjoyed an extraordinary vogue. Her subjects were, in the main, young girls, children, flowers, and landscape; and the air of artless simplicity, freshness, humor, and purity of these little works so appealed to public and artists alike that the enthusiastic welcome habitually accorded to them is to be attributed to something more than love of novelty. Courtesy of Illuminated Books
