Arthur Rackham (1867-1939)

The Witch's Pool

Details

Arthur Rackham (1867-1939)
The Witch's Pool
signed and dated 'Arthur Rackham 04' (lower left)
watercolour, heightened with touches of bodycolour on paper
10 ¾ x 6 in. (27.3 x 15.2 cm.)
in the artist's original frame

Provenance

with Christopher Wood, London, 1983.
with Chris Beetles, London, 1984.

Literature

J. Hamilton, Arthur Rackham: A life with illustration, London, 1990, p. 58.

Exhibited

Torquay, Bearne's, Other Worlds, An Exhibition of Illustrators' works in the Realms of Fairies, Fantasy and the Future, 31 July-11 August 1989, no. 20.

Brought to you by

Clare Keiller

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Lot Essay

In 1905 Rackham published Fairy Tales Old and New: A collection of Stories from Old Fairy Tales, compiling tales from Hans Christian Anderson, the Brothers Grimm and from Arthurian legend. Commenting on his work in 1904, when the present watercolour was executed, one critic wrote that Rackham was 'beyond dispute a master of his craft, and he occupies a position no one can be said to share with him' (Birmingham Post, 9 April 1904, quoted in J. Hamilton, op.cit., p. 67).

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