Rackham and the Wind

Something I love about Arthur Rackham's work is how so many of his works feature a very exuberant wind. There's nothing as exhilarating as being caught up in a wild wind!

Arthur Rackham, "And now they never meet in grove or green," from act 2, scene 1 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, en and black ink and watercolor with scraping and minute touches of white gouache on artist’s illustration board, 1908, source: http://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.651?artist=Arthur+Rackham

Arthur Rackham - Illustration for "Till Eulenspiegel"

I am an admirer of Arthur Rackham and am often to be found scouring places for his work. It's great fun to get lost in the online galleries of museums and dream of one day seeing the works in person. I stumble across this beauty of his in the Metropolitan's gallery. I have never read the story it's from, but now I must see if I can get my hands on it. How terrifying and haunting the figures are. I wonder if the fact that it was done right in the middle of WWI had anything to do with the darkness and fear in this painting.

Arthur Rackham,  Illustration for "Till Eulenspiegel", watercolour, pen, ink, and guache on paper, 1916