How does the artistic and historical context influence Arthur Rackham's illustrations?

In this essay, I will be talking about how art styles such as Art Nouveau and Pre-Raphaelites and the Victorian period had influence over Arthur Rackham’s art style. There were also the time periods of 1867 to 1939 from when he was born to when he passed and how although the use of techniques has changed, there has been a preserved use of a Victorian style that he has kept throughout his work and how such techniques have changed his style of art to look the way it does in his latest pieces. With the years that have gone by, the artistic movements such as Art Nouveau which links with the use of a fantasy theme throughout his pieces and the historical context of his life being influenced by the Victorian era has a huge impact on his illustrations. The influences in technology and art in general has helped the creation of art all around the world. One artist that has used unique techniques such as Three-colour process is Arthur Rackham. These techniques that were used helped the legacy of his work style be well known throughout illustrators and artists alike. The artistic historical context such as specific techniques that has been created and the actual historical events that he has lived through has helped him have his own specific style that has made his work unique and different from other artists from his time and has helped influence contemporary artists.Arthur Rackham’s life when he was young had a huge influence in how he first became interested in art. At the age of 16, was his first step to how he became more interested in art. Since Arthur Rackham was a sickly child, their family doctor said that the best medicine for him would be to take a cruise so that he would have a breath of fresh air. This was also the time when he first received art supplies for the first time which he is now known for using in his more present art. He received a watercolour box when he was in nursery school and since then, he would bring it out with him everywhere to paint small pieces. The development of using watercolours was when he was in Australia, this allowed him to have the freedom of working on pieces for longer periods of time since he did not have the stress from school and any other unnecessary noises and the Australian water colour pieces that he created during his time there has been a big step to how his watercolour skills developed into a more detailed style.

Although this was his first steps, his style gradually changed to a more illustrative style rather than semi realistic watercolour paintings. The use of plain watercolour then moved to a mixed media with the use of pen. His style of work changed depending of the freelance work that he was doing. In his earlier years when he was being commissioned by magazines and authors, it was clear that his style of work was not defined and that he was experimenting with what would work well for him, this is clear since the use of watercolour wash and a fantasy theme is not seen in these earlier pieces. The image on the left is from a commissioned piece he did for Chums (1807) and the name of it is Crack! Went the rope… His early work shows that he did not find his style of using watercolour, pen and ink. This links with how the technology was restricted to him when using these

specific techniques since printing could only be done in black and white and his usual technique of using watercolour could not be printed. Although his known style was not

present in this piece, this shows how the use of outlining and pen could be seen in his more popular piece. In this piece, the use of using Indian inks with making clean outlines could be seen and the way that he creates detail by using lines rather than using the watercolour to create depth and dimension. One process that has made his work look the way it is the Three-colour Process which was a mechanical process which was used in Britain in 1904 and 1905 which helped was a revolution in colour printing. This was a process in which a drawing is photographed through different coloured lenses which are blue, green and red which help create a negative film which then would help create three printing plates which could then be used to colour balance the original drawing which then creates a colour balance. This was an advantage since his original pieces could be made into copies and placed into magazines, this also allowed Arthur Rackham to keep his original drawings for his collection. Although this technique influenced his art to have more clean cut lines, the paper that this could only be printed on was high quality which would make the cost of whatever books it would be published in to be a higher price. If it was to be placed in books, it had to be pasted by hand but this gave an effect that was appreciated by the audience and this became a new generation of gift books. This piece on the right is the ducks which he had once saved dived and brought up the key from the depths, 1900 an illustration that he did which used the three-colour process. Since this process uses the three colours magenta, cyan and yellow when the colours are placed together, it adds a colour balance. The effect that the three-colour process looks differently since they should take a copy of the original print of his which is just watercolour and pen. Since the watercolour is a light wash, it gave the three colour process a more monotone and dull colour scheme which became an art statement of his. After experimenting with different techniques, the media that he has used the most and became a staple in his art is the use of pen, ink and watercolour. The use of pen and watercolour became his strong point when making illustrations, this allowed him to have detail in his pieces which was easier to use rather than just sticking with the lithograph technique and using Three Colour Process. The use of pen could be seen in the smaller details such as the trees and the use of watercolour brought out the fantasy theme which he is popular for. A style that he invented was the use of adding a dull colour wash which was mostly yellow and he would do his pen sketches on top. To add more colour, he was adding more watercolour but add it so that it was more like a tint rather than a harsh spot of colour. The use of this technique allowed his work to look more aged than it was and the light wash of the colour added only subtle colour change. This could link with the Victorian era since the use of detail and watercolour helps make the details within the background and the fantasy themes have more depth to it which make the piece a more decorative piece.

Silhouettes were also a technique which was popular in the late Victorian era when making art but Rackham was an illustrator who helped make it popular by using it in books. A book that made this style more popular is the book The Sleeping Beauty, 1920. Arthur Rackham used this technique for most of his life and his pieces. The silhouette technique in his art was also a cheaper option for book printing since there was no

reason to colour the smaller details if it is just one tone. This allowed his artwork to be printed easier which helped reach out a larger audience. The use of simplistic silhouettes added to the fact that his work is fantasy themed. This helps add more mystery, fantasy and humour since the body of drawing is manipulated by making the body poses more exaggerated making the people have longer limbs and giving the wilder poses rather than a subtle and gentle pose. The art movements that could be linked with his illustration style is Art Nouveau and pre-Raphaelites which were happening during the years of his art life. Both movements were close to the years of the Victorian era which Arthur Rackham’s work was inspired by. Art Nouveau was a movement that began in the 1800s and ended on 1905, it mostly focused on historical architecture but was also a way to reject the wide variety of architecture that was emerging. Art Nouveau artists focused more on geometric and organic shapes from the structure of these buildings. The organic forms were to be made so that they looked like plants blossoming. I believe that this is linked with Arthur Rackham’s art work since he also draws structures with an organic form such as the trees, gnomes and fairies which are popular themes in his pieces. The colours used are muted green, blue, brown and yellow. This colour scheme could be seen in Rackham’s pieces since he adds a brown water colour wash as a background and over the inks then after, he adds a light watercolour tint to areas where the detail in needed, he sticks with the same colour scheme as the Art Nouveau. This movement was also a way to visualise that the architecture was not just there as valueless decoration but that the way the architecture was made was for a more meaningful reason such as there is a form that the artist was trying to show such as a plant blossoming. In Arthur Rackham’s piece, there is detailing that is placed in the trees, the gnomes face which he draws and the smaller details in the background, this isn’t just made as a decorative piece but more as a narrative of a story which must be looked at and understood by the audience. Like Art Nouveau, Pre-Raphaelites also went against traditional teachings but in the way that art was being taught in art schools and how students were being restricted to following their own style. Rackham’s has a connection with this movement since his style is very different from the traditional painting and sculpturing since he follows his own technique on watercolour and pen. To conclude, the movements and techniques that have influenced his art were inspired by the Victorian era since this was a time when unique ideas and more open ways of exploring art was appreciated and seen as different. The use of techniques such as the Three colour process allowed his art work to progress to a larger audience but also opened more up ways of experimenting with different techniques such as silhouette drawings and how the colour schemes from Art Nouveau and his own colour palette have a connection. With Rackham living in this period where many techniques and historical context were being created, it allowed his work to grow in detail in naturalistic themes which link with both movements but also how techniques such as watercolour and silhouette drawings stayed in a Victorian theme of fantasy and organic way of narrating his illustrations.

BibliographyMarch 1st, 2017 (links)

http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/rackham.htm https://www.cmich.edu/library/clarke/ResearchResources/Childrens_Material/

Arthur_Rackham/Pages/Style,-Subjects,-Technique,-and-Technology.aspxhttp://www.avictorian.com/victorianart.html

http://www.theartstory.org/movement-art-nouveau.htmJames Hamilton - February 28, 2017 – Arthur Rackham a life with Illustration (1990)