He was born in 1888, in Salina, Kansas, the son of Richard Price and Virginia Bates Cravens. He graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University in 1908. He was described as "a red-haired Kansan, as unassuming in private conversation as he is dogmatic on the printed page. He has been a reporter in Denver, a schoolmaster in California and Porto Rico, a deckhand in the West Indies, an unsuccessful painter and poet." He was friends with numerous artists of his day including George Grosz and Thomas Hart Benton. He married Aileen St. John-Brenon on August 25, 1923 and they were divorced in 1947. He summered in West Tisbury, on Martha's Vineyard and moved there permanently in 1949. He died in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 27, 1969, at the age of 81.
Writing career
He wrote numerous books, several were very popular including, Men of Art and Modern Art: the Men, the Movements, the Meaning both of which were Book-of–the-Month club selections. Another of his books, A Treasury of Art Masterpieces: from the Renaissance to the Present Day reached the bestseller list and was re-issued several times. In addition he contributed essays, articles and criticisms to numerous periodicals including, Scribners, Harpers, The Dial, The Nation, The New Republic, The American Mercury, and The Forum. At one time he was the art critic for the New York American. An example of his "no holds barred" writing comes from the Introduction to Modern Art; the Men, the Movements, the Meaning: However, despite the fact that he could be caustic, he was equally capable of providing praise. In describing John Steuart Curry's painting Baptism in Kansas, he says, "There was no burlesque in the picture, no satire, no sophisticated fooling. It was conceived in reverence and spiritual understanding, and executed with an honesty of purpose that is all too rare in any art." Thomas Craven’s impact on the art world was significant. Any literature discussing the Regionalist painters makes reference to Mr. Craven’s work. He is discussed in Renegade Regionalists by James M. Dennis, John Steuart Curry's Pageant of America by Laurence E. Schmeckebier and Tom and Jack: The Intertwined Lives of Thomas Hart Benton and Jackson Pollock by Henry Adams. His influence is best described by the Time magazine’s review of his book, Men of Art:
Works
Selected essays
Men of Art: American Style, The American Mercury, December 1925.
Modern Art: the Men, the Movements, the Meaning, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1934.
A Treasury of American Prints: a Selection of One hundred Etchings and Lithographs by the Foremost Living American Artists, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1939.
A Treasury of Art Masterpieces: from the Renaissance to the Present Day, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1939; Simon & Schuster, 1977,.
Thomas Hart Benton, a descriptive catalogue of the works of Thomas Hart Benton...with an examination of the artist and his work, Associated American Artists, 1939.
The Story of Painting, From Cave Pictures to Modern Art, Simon & Schuster, 1943.
Cartoon Calvalcade, A Collection of the Best American Humorous Cartoons from the Turn of the Century to the Present, Simon & Schuster, 1943.
The Pocket Book of Old Masters. With W. Somerset Maugham and Walter Pater, edited by Herman J Wechsler. Pocket Books, Inc., 1949.
Famous Artists and their Models, New York: Pocket Books, 1949.
