William Nicholson had a relatively short but highly influential career as a printmaker, book illustrator, and poster designer in the 1890s before dedicating himself full-time to painting in 1901. "The Square Book of Animals" displays Nicholson’s ability to distill his subjects into bold and eye-catching imagery, built from simplified, flattened forms accentuated by contrasts of light and dark—the perfect complement to Arthur Waugh’s witty rhymes.