Even though he spend quite a bit of his life in the 20th century and not the 19th, Arthur Rackham is in his works so Victorian that he definately belongs here.
Arthur Rackham was an English book illustrator and painter living from 1867 till 1939. I saw his works in the 1905 book Rip van Winkle but he also illustrated books like “Alice in Wonderland,” “Peter Pan,” Fairytales of the brothers Grimm, and he also illustrated books for adult readers, for example “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and short stories by Edgar Allen Poe. Already during his lifetime Rackham won various gold medals for his work and was included in numerous exhibitions.
My favourites:
At the wedding
A young man presenting a bouquet to a girl standing in the drawing room
The peepshow
Illustration for fairytales by Hans Andersen
Illustration for Rip van Winkle.
Links to read more:
I love this kind of artwork. Especially the second one.
This blog is pretty interesting… I’ve blogrolled you.
Thank you very much!
Lovely site – Arthur Rackham is so wonderful! Have you seen the art of his contemporary, Edmund Dulac? Equally stunning!
Thank you! I know a little about Edmund Dulac but not nearly enough, I will do some research soon and make a post about him as well.
I see your taste in art hasn’t changed Emma.
It occured to me as well that you might like the work of Kay Neilsen. His illustrations to Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch’s In Powder and Crinoline: Old Fairy Tales (1913) are beautiful, almost art deco in style, though the context is 18th rather than 19th century.
Emma: I’ve seen some of his art, but without knowing his name! Thank you so much for the tip, his work is truly stunning!
So glad you like him! There are some amazing editions of his work that sell for thousands on ebay etc. but you can also get a wonderful range of illustrations in a new paperback edition called Nielsen’s Fairy Tale Illustrations, available on amazon etc. In the same series: Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham, and Warwick Goble!
Can I get the name of the one where the man is handing the woman flowers in the drawing room?
Ell: The site I found it at really put the title as ‘A young man presenting a bouquet to a girl standing in the drawing room’, but now I can’t find it again! It should be in a gallery somewhere though! Sorry I can’t offer any better help.
Now for something a little different, but equally beautiful. This interior is designed by Victor Horta in Belgium: Hotel Tassel by Victor Horta Picture from a very interesting posting about Victor Horta at Victorian Era