Allen W. (Allen William) Seaby

Born in London on May 25, 1867, Allen William Seaby became a painter, illustrator, printmaker, writer, and teacher. He studied at Reading School of Art under Frank Morley Fletcher, where he developed a lasting interest in Japanese-style color woodblock printing, and he later spent much of his career at the University of Reading.

Seaby is especially remembered for his ornithological art: birds appear again and again across his paintings, prints, and books. Alongside his artwork, he wrote art books for students and also created and illustrated children’s books, showing the same close attention to nature and clear visual storytelling in both.

From 1920 to 1933 he served as Professor of Fine Art at the University of Reading. He died on July 28, 1953, leaving behind a body of work that connects fine art, printmaking, and popular nature writing in a warm and distinctive way.