Cover of Rackham's Fairy Tale Illustrations

Rackham's Fairy Tale Illustrations

One of the most renowned and best-loved illustrators of his day, English artist Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) brought countless stories and fairy tales to life though his vivid imagination and eye for telling details. Combining a sensitive use of line and subdued watercolors, he skillfully depicted forests of startling trees with claw-like roots, wholesome fairy maidens, monsters, and demons, and backgrounds filled with obscure figures. His inspired illustrations for the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm (1900) brought him his first great success, with a long and distinguished career to follow.

Read more

This collection of 55 full-color plates, reproduced from rare early editions, contains a rich selection of Rackham's best fairy tale images: a giant terrorizing the inhabitants of an isolated village in English Fairy Tales, a wicked witch greeting two lost children on her doorstep in Hansel and Gretel, a young maiden beset by snarling wolves in Irish Fairy Tales, and many more, including illustrations from Snowdrop and Other Tales, Little Brother and Little Sister, and The Allies' Fairy Book.

Audience
adult
Length
short · 64 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked Rackham's Fairy Tale Illustrations? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Rackham's Fairy Tale Illustrations. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Dulac's Fairy Tale Illustrations in Full Color Shares art, fairy tale, fae
  2. The Art of Faery Shares art, fae, fantasy
  3. Arthur Rackham A Life With Illustration Shares art, nonfiction, folklore
  4. Spectrum 14: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art Shares art, illustrated, nonfiction

“People who read Rackham's Fairy Tale Illustrations tend to reach for these next.”

  1. Drawing Down the Moon: The Art of Charles Vess
  2. The Night Life of Trees
  3. Fairy Houses ... Everywhere!
  4. The Tale of Genji

“If you want more of the same (fairy tale about art), start with these.”

  1. Fairies
  2. The Art of Amy Brown
  3. The Art of Frozen
  4. Tale as Old as Time: The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beast

“If it was the art that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. Spectrum 12: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art
  2. Spectrum 20: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art
  3. Spectrum 11: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art
  4. Spectrum 2: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm
  2. Zombie Fairy Tales: The Complete Collection
  3. Kay Nielsen: East of the Sun and West of the Moon
  4. The Wonder Clock or, Four and Twenty Marvelous Tales