Rackham, Arthur (1867-1939), an English artist, won wide recognition for his illustrations for children’s books. His illustrations were filled with such figures as gnomes, elves, witches, and fairies, as well as with kindly human beings.
Rackham drew and painted these figures with delicacy and rich detail. He made such details as wood grain, tree bark, and lines in faces and hands important parts of the whole design. He even gave his trees personalities. Rackham’s imaginative and skillful pictures brought to life the characters in many favorite stories, including Rip Van Winkle (1905), Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (1906), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1907), Mother Goose, the Old Nursery Rhymes (1913), Some British Ballads (1919), and The Arthur Rackham Fairy Book (published in 1950, after his death).
Rackham was born on Sept. 19, 1867, in London. He became interested in drawing when he was a boy and entered the Lambeth School of Art in 1884. He supported himself by working in an insurance office from 1885 to 1892. Rackham first gained recognition for his illustrations in an edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales that was published in 1900. He died on Sept. 6, 1939.
