Arthur Rackham

How Galahad drew out the sword

from the floating stone at Camelot

11.7" x 16.5" Poster

(Reproduced on Acid-free printing stock with Archive-quality inks)

Perfect for many purposes, the image on this Poster is a wonderful illustration by Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) - one of the leading artists associated with the Golden Age of Illustration. It was first published in The Romance of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table (1917).

The tone of the tale - and Rackham's accompanying imagery - is set in the first sentence of Pollard's Preface:

The story of King Arthur and his Knights is one of the greatest that 

men have ever made, greater by far than that of Charlemagne, 

which had come into fashion a little earlier, greater perhaps even 

than the Tale of Troy, already some two thousand years old, which 

for some centuries it eclipsed.

Pollard's version of Malory's Morte d'Arthur includes tales of: King Arthur; Sir Launcelot; Sir Gareth; Sir Tristram; Sir Launcelot and Dame Elaine; Sir Galahad and the Quest of the Holy Grail; and Launcelot, Guenever, and King Arthur. Malory's own Morte d'Arthur was compiled from folk tales, with the addition of some original material related to Sir Gareth. The original version of the tales was first published by William Caxton in 1485 and the Malory compilation is regarded as the best-known work of English-language Arthurian literature.

Some insight into Rackham's preparation of the illustrations for this commission is provided by Hamilton (1990) in Arthur Rackham: A Life with Illustration:

In preparing for the commission, Rackham turned to his own copy of 

Beardsley's Morte D'Arthur and, following the pattern of the Beardsley 

version, drew square and rectangular chapter headings to be set at 

irregular intervals up and down the page. As in Beardsley, these have a 

stark black and white appearance, though Rackham cannot resist the 

occasional wryly humorous touch such as a barking dog or a jester's 

head. The closest Rackham comes to Beardsley, however, is in his

illustration of 'Sangreal', a flaming lidded chalice carried by an 

attenuated golden-haired white-robed maiden. This homage to Aubrey 

is based closely on Beardsley's own angel in 'The Achieving of the 

Sangreal', the frontispiece to Volume Two of Morte D'Arthur.

Detail from the Poster (for reference purposes) is shown below.

Illustrations by Arthur Rackham for fairy tales, myths and legends are characterized by a sinuous pen line softened with muted watercolor - a feature that is typical of the Art Nouveau aesthete. His forests are looming with frightening grasping roots, fair maidens depicted by Rackham are sensuous - yet somehow chaste - and his ogres and trolls ugly enough to repulse, but with sufficient good nature not to frighten. Fairy tales, myths and legends to benefit from Rackham's artistic interpretation included works by authors including: Barrie; Barham; Carroll; Shakespeare; the Brothers Grimm; de la Motte Fouqué; Wagner; Aesop; Dickens; Malory; Stephens; Milton; Hawthorne; Irving; Moore; Poe; and Ibsen. Hudson (Arthur Rackham: His Life and Work, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1960) called Rackham "the leading decorative illustrator of the Edwardian period" and nearly a century after his first illustrations were published, Hamilton (Arthur Rackham: A Life with Illustration, Pavilion Books Ltd, London, 1990) provided further comment on his skills (as shown below).

Rackham's illustrations to Grimm, Hans Andersen or Poe show him 

at his most imaginative and observant of human nature, while his 

gnomes, fairies and gnarled anthropomorphic trees in Peter Pan in 

Kensington Gardens or A Midsummer Night's Dream represent his 

more fantastic side ... [h]e was - and remains - a soloist in front of an 

orchestra, a player with the responsibility to interpret and add a 

personal luster to great works with variations of infinite subtlety 

and grace.

This Poster is produced on acid-free stock with archive-quality inks.

The image shown below demonstrates how this can appear when framed (frames and framing are not included in the sale).

Sold as is with no returns, these posters are as described and will be shipped to Australia and select international destinations for free using the fully insured and tracked services of Australia Post (international buyers are responsible for any Customs duties or taxes levied in their own countries).