When Phantasie Takes Flight: the Art & Imagination of Arthur RackhamMain MenuExplore a Guided Tour of the ExhibitExplore the Collection IndependentlyExplore the Collection Through VisualizationsLibraryPress@UF3b1cdf573ac293e8c89509f45d68f8ce07c5832aLibraryPress@UF. Curated by Suzan A. Alteri and John Ingram. Digitized by Rebecca McNulty. Media is in the public domain or used under a claim of fair use except where otherwise noted.
At Length for my Seared and Writhing Body
1media/Poe_thumb.jpg2021-08-02T20:06:10+00:00Rebecca McNulty65517d188dc9aba7b76d226a2dc4aefe35fae20f15Edgar Allan Poe and Arthur Rackham, "At length for my seared and writhing body there was no longer an inch of foothold on the firm floor of the prison" from Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination, George G. Harrap & Co., Ltd, 7 ¼ in. x 5 ¼ in., 1935, PS2602 1935bplain2021-12-21T19:08:22+00:00Harold and Mary Jean Hanson Rare Book CollectionRebecca McNulty65517d188dc9aba7b76d226a2dc4aefe35fae20f
12021-08-03T14:23:14+00:00Phantasie20plain2021-12-20T21:43:46+00:00Literature often provides avenues for an artist to let go of reality and plunge into the depths of imagination. From the story of Salome and her dance for the head of John the Baptist to Parsifal’s search for the Holy Grail, no avenue for an artist’s imagination was closed. Harry Clarke’s take on Edgar Allen Poe moved further into the dark side of the author’s imagination than Rackham chose to attempt. Yet the impact on the reader does not change: the fear of the mysterious that enthralled Poe is imagined in scenes designed by the artist to add thrills to his words. Compare these images with those from The Goblin Market, Snickerty Nick and the Bletherwitch, and the Witch’s Kitchen: here Rackham’s genius for image brings the reader to the same conclusion: phantoms do exist, at least in the imagination.
12021-08-03T14:22:22+00:00Black and White10plain2021-12-20T21:19:37+00:00 Black and white is hardly ever just black and just white. As in an author’s tale in words, selection and choice of just the right word can incite a myriad of impressions in a reader well beyond what the author may have originally intended. For George Cruikshank, Aubrey Beardsley, Howard Pyle and Willy Pogány, black and white became the color palette to stir a reader’s imagination down paths other than where the author’s words might lead. At times, the stark contrast between absolute black and unmitigated white awakened or startled the reader to the author’s intent, more than mere words could do. At other times, an illustrator’s use of sliding scales of grey allowed a reader to experience more reality than an author might normally intend in a fairy tale, legend, or horror story. Even artists such as Rackham and Harry Clarke would eschew color when the author’s words seemed more impactful if drawn or imagined in black and white. Compare the images here with those in Rackham’s Poefor his intentional use of black and white rather than color to convey the author’s intent.
