Feel the passion of Melton Prior in our art prints.

In the 20th century, what was happening in the world was mainly put on paper by illustrators, as photography was still very complex and expensive. Similar to photojournalists today, the illustrators of that time travelled to crisis and war zones and delivered detailed images of the events back home. Melton Prior is one of the most important illustrators and war correspondents of the Victorian era, famous for his ability to draw scenes on paper at breathtaking speed.

Melton Prior was born in London in 1845 and was, in a way, born into the cradle of creativity and artistic genius. Already his father was a well-known landscape artist, painter and illustrator. In 1873 the "Illustrated London News", one of the most important and influential newspapers of the time, obliged Prior to travel to West Africa and document the Ashanti Wars. This was followed by coverage of the Carlist Wars in Spain, the events in Herzegovina and the Russian-Turkish War. During the Zulu War in South Africa, Prior witnessed and documented the final battle of Ulundi and was present when the body of the Imperial Prince of France was discovered. Prior was also at the forefront of the Boer Wars, the conquest of Ladysmith, and numerous other conflicts, documenting many important and history-changing events.

His ability to put scenes and illustrations on paper with many details in a very short time meant that the "Illustrated London News" was able to react relatively quickly to historical events and report on them, often with Prio's drawings on the front page. Thereby, the newspaper mainly influenced the middle class in England but also many social and political decisions. Prior's sketches and drawings were sent by express courier from the trouble spots back to London, where they were traced by studio artists and engraved on blocks of wood to be printed in masses afterwards. It was also thanks to Prior that the newspaper achieved record circulations and was one of the most important news institutions worldwide at the time.

Prior's last assignments took him on the Somaliland expedition and all the way to Asia to report on the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. His work directly in war and crisis zones and his intrepid attitude and courage earned him great admiration and veneration, especially in his home country, and he was one of the most influential and first war correspondents of his time. Milton Prior died in London in 1910 at the age of 65, a few years after returning from Asia.