Come and Play in the Garden (Original artwork)
- London , 1883
London, 1883. First edition. Fine. A 4 7/8 x 5 3/8 inches original pen, ink and watercolor illustration. Greenaway's drawing is reproduced on page 51 of the book Little Ann and Other Poems (London: George Routledge & Sons, 1883).
A sweet image with two girls dressing in matching outfits, standing in the garden. One appears engaged with picking daisies while the other looks out at the viewer. This illustration has all of the typical gentility and warmth that made Greenaway's work so beloved. "Victorian-era children’s book artist and author Kate Greenaway began her career during the early 1870s illustrating greeting cards," (NYPL) but she soon turned her successful brush towards book illustration. "Like fellow illustrators Walter Crane and Randolph Caldecott, Greenaway sought to publish innovative children’s works of the highest quality. Her focus on depictions of children, however, set her illustrations apart from those of her contemporaries. Greenaway’s work is cherished today for its unaffected, pastoral imagery" (NYPL). Famous critic John Ruskin was known to be a huge admirer of her art. Greenaway worked on illustrations for Little Ann and Other Poems (based on poems by Jane and Ann Taylor) throughout the spring of 1883. The artist Henry Stacy Marks wrote of Little Ann, "on the whole, I might say entirely, your best book…"(Engen).
This illustration accompanied a poem, which reads:
"Little sister, come away,
And let us in the garden play,
For it is a pleasant day.
On the grass-plat let us sit,
Or, if you please, we'll play a bit,
And run about all over it.
But the fruit we will not pick,
For that would be a naughty trick,
And very likely make us sick.
Nor will we pluck the pretty flowers
That grow about the beds and bowers,
Because you know they are not ours.
We'll take the daisies, white and red,
Because mamma has often said
That we may gather them instead.
And much I hope that we always may
Our very dear mamma obey,
And mind whatever she may say." Fine.
A sweet image with two girls dressing in matching outfits, standing in the garden. One appears engaged with picking daisies while the other looks out at the viewer. This illustration has all of the typical gentility and warmth that made Greenaway's work so beloved. "Victorian-era children’s book artist and author Kate Greenaway began her career during the early 1870s illustrating greeting cards," (NYPL) but she soon turned her successful brush towards book illustration. "Like fellow illustrators Walter Crane and Randolph Caldecott, Greenaway sought to publish innovative children’s works of the highest quality. Her focus on depictions of children, however, set her illustrations apart from those of her contemporaries. Greenaway’s work is cherished today for its unaffected, pastoral imagery" (NYPL). Famous critic John Ruskin was known to be a huge admirer of her art. Greenaway worked on illustrations for Little Ann and Other Poems (based on poems by Jane and Ann Taylor) throughout the spring of 1883. The artist Henry Stacy Marks wrote of Little Ann, "on the whole, I might say entirely, your best book…"(Engen).
This illustration accompanied a poem, which reads:
"Little sister, come away,
And let us in the garden play,
For it is a pleasant day.
On the grass-plat let us sit,
Or, if you please, we'll play a bit,
And run about all over it.
But the fruit we will not pick,
For that would be a naughty trick,
And very likely make us sick.
Nor will we pluck the pretty flowers
That grow about the beds and bowers,
Because you know they are not ours.
We'll take the daisies, white and red,
Because mamma has often said
That we may gather them instead.
And much I hope that we always may
Our very dear mamma obey,
And mind whatever she may say." Fine.