The Bird Woman and The Tree Poster

Arthur Rackham, 1867 - 1939, was an English artist and illustrator. While he worked as a staff artist for a London newspaper, he also began illustrating books. He became skilful using the new halftone process, and his highly detailed drawings revealed a unique imagination. He achieved renown with a 1900 edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales, and his illustrations for Rip Van Winkle (1905) brought him recognition in America as well. Altogether he illustrated more than 60 books, including classics of children's literature as well as works by William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, John Milton, Richard Wagner, and Edgar Allan Poe. Many of Rackham’s illustrations show gnarled old trees which turn into gnarled old men. Here a tree-man converses with a bird. This illustration was done with black chalk and watercolor.