Arthur Rackham

About the artist

Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was a renowned English book illustrator, acclaimed for his imaginative and evocative art. He was instrumental during the Golden Age of British book illustration—a time when some of literature’s most memorable illustrated editions were produced. His unmistakable style has made a lasting impact on the field of illustration.

Rackham’s artwork is recognized for its elaborate pen and ink drawings enhanced with delicate washes of watercolour. This technique bestowed his illustrations with a dreamy, ethereal atmosphere, rendering them instantly distinguishable. His singular style drew on experience gained during his formative years as a journalistic illustrator, which cultivated his sharp sense of detail and composition.

Over his prolific career, Arthur Rackham provided illustrations for numerous literary classics, captivating readers across generations. Among his most celebrated projects are his illustrations for "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens," "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," and "Grimm's Fairy Tales." His works frequently featured fantastical themes, striking character depictions, and lush, atmospheric scenery.

Today, Rackham's legacy stands as one of the early twentieth century’s most influential illustrators. His distinctive combination of technical mastery, imaginative vision, and narrative intricacy continues to inspire both artists and admirers of books. His illustrations are now prized by collectors, enduring as a powerful testament to the lasting appeal of visual storytelling.

Arthur Rackham

Marvellous tales of haunted fields, and haunted brooks, and haunted houses

Undine outside the window (1912)

Becuma of the White Skin (1920)

Ring a ring o’ roses. (1912)

And the maids cried ‘good gracious, how very tenacious!’ (1911)

He rescued a maid from the Dey of Algiers. (1911)

A chrysanthemum heard her, and said pointedly, ‘Hoity-toity, what is this’ (1913)

‘Little niece,’ said Kühleborn, ‘forget not that I am here with thee as a guide.’ (1912)

What, indeed, could she do (1911)

Berthalda in the Black Valley (1912)

The moment her shadowy form met his view he…made one grasshopper spring to the door–and was gone! (1911)

Hey! up the chimney, lass! Hey after you! (1911)

Sir Thomas, her Lord, was stout of limb. (1911)

Bursting forth like a legion of young imps

They’d such very odd heads and such very odd tails. (1911)

The wolf disguised as grandmother (1902)

Alas! dear Falada, there thou hangest (1920)

The white snake (1920)

Wandering about and ‘boo-hoo’-ing. (1911)

A Squirrel and a Crow (1913)

Jack and Jill (1913)

‘She hath a mark, like a violet, between her shoulders, and another like it on the instep of her left foot.’ (1912)

There’s an old woman dwells upon Tappington Moor. (1911)

Andromeda

The little man had seated himself in the centre of the circle upon the large skull (1911)

Bertalda (1912)

When a score of ewes had brought in a remarkable profit. (1911)

A beautiful little girl clad in rich garments stood there on the threshold smiling (1912)

These stiles sadly bothered Odille. (1911)

‘He took his place once more on the bench at the inn-door’ (1910)

Jack sneaks into the giant’s house

Fairies are all more or less in hiding until dusk (1913)

The Witch’s Pool (1904)

Sauntering along in the twilight

The princess and the pea

If anyone lied, or if anyone swore. (1911)

He held up the gold piece, crying at each leap of his, ‘False gold! false coin! false coin!’ (1912)

Building the house for Maimie (1913)

Peter Pan is the fairies’ orchestra (1913)

There now arose a mighty storm and he was tossed this way and that (1906)

Into the bottomless pit he fell slap. (1911)

Mother Goose

The Duchess shed tears large as marrow-fat peas. (1911)

He could see Undine beneath the crystal vault (1911)

A grand pas de deux performed in the very first style by these two. (1911)

Reciting for their amusement all the epitaphs on the tombstones

Looking very undancey indeed (1913)

Put his strange case before old Solomon Caw (1913)

Old Mr. Salford was a crab-apple of an old gentleman who wandered all day in the Gardens (1913)

Pandora and Epimetheus

The horn, at the gate of the Barbican tower, was blown with a loud twenty-trumpeter power. (1911)

For years he had been quietly filling his stocking (1913)

‘The rain always made a point of setting in just as he had some outdoor work to do’ (1905)

Little Thumbling and his brothers find their way home

The Kensington Gardens are in London, where the King lives (1913)

The Green Dragon (1910)

‘And now they never meet in grove or green,’ from act 2, scene 1 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare (1908)

‘They crowed round him, eyeing him from head to foot with great curiosity.’ (1905)

These tricky fairies sometimes change the board on a ball night (1913)

At length they all pointed their stained fingers at me (1912)

Mother Goose.

He bounced up and down, and so fearful a frown contracted his brow, you’d have thought he’d been blind. (1911)

Sir Tristram defeats Sir Palamedes in Ireland (1902)

After this the birds said that they would help him no more in his mad enterprise (1913)

She did not mind death, but she could not stand pinching. (1911)

The Cat and the Eagle

The frog prince (1913)

‘Blow, blow, little breeze, And Conrad’s hat seize.’ (1920)

The Wren and the Bear (1902)

Witches and warlocks, ghosts, goblins and ghouls (1911)

Puss in boots. (1911)

If Orpheus first produced the waltz (1911)