"Suddenly the branches twined around her..." From Little Brother and Little Sister, the Brother's Grimm, 1917.The amazing Arthur Rackham is among the best known of Golden Age illustrators. He was renowned for his graceful pen and inks, subtle watercolors and ability to recreate the magical and whimsical.
Rackham was born on September 19, 1867 in London, England and attended night classes at the Lambeth School of Art while working full time as a clerk in an insurance office. He eventually left his clerk position to draw for the newspaper, Westminster Budget and it was then that he began to illustrate books on the side. The 1905 publication of Washington Irving’s Rip Van Winkle featuring Rackham’s illustrations launched his career. Rackham died on September 6, 1939 in Limpsfield, Surrey, England. He illustrated more than 60 books in his lifetime and his oeuvre is as engaging and striking as it was when first published. His art remains unrivaled and many consider his death as the end to the Golden Age of illustration.
The major works illustrated by Rackham include Rip Van Winkle (1905), Peter Pan in Kensington Garden (1906), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1907), Ingoldsby Legends (1907), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1908), Undine (1909), Grimm’s Fairy Tales (1909), The Rhinegold & the Valkyrie (1910), Mother Goose (1913), A Christmas Carol (1915), Romance of King Arthur (1917), Cinderella (1919), Irish Fairy Tales (1920), Sleeping Beauty (1920), The Tempest (1926), The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1928), Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales (1932), Arthur Rackham Fairy Book (1933), Goblin Market (1933), Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1935).
From Peter Pan in Kensington Garden, 1906
From Undine, 1909
"Elves" from Arthur Rackham's Book of Pictures, 1913"Arthur Rackham." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2011.
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