Seated Girl with Primroses 1886

Kate Greenaway made this watercolor, Seated Girl with Primroses, in 1886, using paper and delicate washes of pigment. The effect is one of airy lightness, suiting the pastoral subject matter. Greenaway was a very successful children’s book illustrator, and this work certainly seems to capture an idealized vision of childhood, closely connected to nature. However, the image’s very artlessness is deceptive. Watercolors like this one were made possible by industrial advances in paper manufacture and the formulation of pigments. The mass production of these materials made them readily available to a wide range of artists and illustrators. It is worth remembering that while this scene seems utterly removed from the industrial revolution, it was in fact enabled by it. Materials, making, and context are key to understanding the full meaning of any artwork, challenging traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.