Page:Arthur Rackham, a bibliography.pdf/17



RTHUR RACKHAM was born in London, September 19, 1867. His father, a British Admiralty Marshal, very early decided upon a business career for his son. However, Arthur Rackham could see nothing congruous between business and drawing, and the holidays found him walking the beautiful pathways of rural England with his paint box and brushes.

Business occupied his hours during the day, but he found time to attend the Lambeth School of Art in the evenings, and in due time reached a state of artistic excellence that permitted him to devote his entire time to illustrating.

Through the years, Arthur Rackham’s work has grown steadily in the world’s favor, and today there probably is no other illustrator whose work is collected with such appreciation and enthusiasm.

In imagination, draftsmanship and colour-blending, his work stands alone. His deep understanding of the spirit of myth, fable and folk-lore affords him a transcendent range of expression.

From Wagner’s The Ring to Mother Goose, Mr. Rackham’s skilled brush leaves an exquisite spectrum of the mystical, the rhymthicrhythmic [sic], the humorous, and the wholesomely-joyful. His animal studies and landscapes are genuinely pulsating with life, colour and joy.

Mr. Rackham is a member of The Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours, an associate member of The Societe Nationale de Beaux Arts, Paris, and a Master of