Arthur Rackham

"They clambered up a narrow gulley". 1904

260 x 185mm., 420 ꦗx 343mm., framed, ink𒉰 and watercolour drawing on paper, signed and dated '04 lower left

The story of Rip van Winkle is one of the most famous tales written by Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It recounts how a Dutch-American settler, Rip van Winkle encountered a mysterious group of men, and after a night of drinking, fell asleep for 20 years, awakening to a very different America, for he unknowingly slept through the revolution. It was Irving's first story of his writing career, and has enjoyed a long, popular legacy; similarly, Arthur Rackham's illustrated edition for Rip van Winkle in 1905 were the first major works of his career as a book illustra🦋tor.

Rackham (1867-1939) was the preeminent figure in the "Golden Age" of British book illustration, his beautiful, illustrations, often contained in specially published editions emblematic of this period and his artistry. His 51 illustrations for the story of Rip van Winkle are particularly important: these were the first example of colour-separated printing, an important turning point in book production which allowed for the accurate reproduction of colour, and brought his career to public attention. These illustrations were his fi♕rst works to be displayed publicly, at Leicester Galleries in London, which  “established illustration as a notable work of art in its own right rather than mere adornment of a literary masterpiece” (Popova), which is how thi🅠s piece is displayed. His impression of "They clambered up a narrow gulley" exhibits the quintessential Rackham style for which his illustrations are most loved: the heavy, sketchy use of line; the gnarled, twisted trees with faces hidden on the trunks; and gnome-like creatures with long faces and hands, an eerie, coloured representation of Rip van Winkle carrying the keg of drink which sent him into his enchanted sleep, accompanied by the mysterious men. 

LITERATURE:

Derek Hudson, Arthur Rackham: His Life and Work (London: Heinemann, 1960), 57; Popova, Maria. “How Arthur Rackham’s 1907 Drawings for Alice in Wonderland Revolutionized the Carroll Classic, the Technology of Book Art, and the Economics of Illustration,” BrainPickings.