Rackham's Color Illustrations for Wagner's "Ring"

By Arthur Rackham and James Spero

"His pictures, which seemed to me then [aged 13] to be the very music made visible, plunged me a few fathoms deeper into my delight. I have seldom coveted anything as I coveted that book." — C.S. Lewis
Before portraying Wagner's "Ring," Arthur Rackham (1867–1939) had become England's leading illustrator through his interpretations of fairy and fantastic books: Grimm's Fairy Tales, Rip van Winkle, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, A Midsummer-Night's Dream. With his insight into elves, twisted oaks, and bearded heroes, Wagner was the logical step: with the "Ring," Rackham brought his talent for ethereal watercolor and line into new realms of adult mythology.
This edition reproduces, in full color, all 64 watercolor illustrations from Siegfried & The Twilight of the Gods (1911) and The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie (1912). The original English and American editions also contained black-and-white vignettes and tailpieces, a selection of which appear here: the original text, a dated English translation of the libretto, has been replaced by comprehensive descriptive captions and an introduction by James Spero.
Rackham poured all his mature fancy into the "Ring." The gnarled Nibelung Alberich sports with teasing Rhinemaidens, fiery Loge and lordly Wotan tussle with giants and serpents. An ecstatic Brünnhilde is finally consumed on Siegfried's funeral pyre in perhaps the most successful representation of this scene anywhere, either graphically or theatrically. Wagner's Teutonic forests and caves give Rackham free reign for his brooding, haunting nature backgrounds; characters, costumes, and all the tiny details are painted with such textual accuracy and empathy that today's opera companies who wish to return to staging the "Ring" in the traditional manner turn to Rackham's paintings for guidance.
The painstaking reproduction of these artworks brings Arthur Rackham's most heroic visions to the many collectors and admirers who cannot obtain the expensive out-of-print editions. With the aid of the clear captions, the Wagnerian cycle may be followed once again in its most time-honored and rich interpretation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Release date: Jul 2, 2013
• ISBN: 9780486319001

Arthur Rackham

Arthur Rackham (1867–1939) was a British illustrator.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

According to a romantic tradition, the family into which Arthur Rackham was born in London on September 19, 1867 was descended from John Rackham, who had been hanged as a pirate in 1720. Be this as it may, Arthur’s immediate family was conventionally and respectably middle class, his father having worked his way up in the civil service to the post of Admiralty Marshall.

Young Arthur’s passion for art was such that, made to retire early, he would smuggle a pencil and paper into bed with him to continue his sketching. During his childhood he was greatly impressed by Arthur Boyd Houghton’s illustrations for The Arabian Nights in the Dalziel edition of 1865. It is also safe to assume that he was exposed to the fantastic creations of Richard Doyle. In 1879 he was admitted to the City of London School, Cheapside, where he won a prize for drawing.

In 1884 Rackham was sent to Australia in the hope that the bracing sea air would improve his delicate health. Returning to London that autumn, he enrolled in the Lambeth School of Art, where fellow students included Charles Ricketts, Thomas Sturge Moore and Leonard Raven-Hill. For all his creative imagination, Rackham was levelheaded. Entering the world of business as a statistician in an insurance company, he continued his practice of art at night, submitting work to the many illustrated weeklies that were published at the time. His first published drawing appeared in 1884 in Scraps. By 1893, Rackham had established enough of a reputation that he was invited

Reviews for Rackham's Color Illustrations for Wagner's "Ring"

[varwenea · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is a gem containing the full set of Arthur Rackham’s 1909-1911 illustrations of the legendary Richard Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” or “The Nibelung’s Ring”, more commonly “The Ring” in the operatic world. These 64 watercolor illustrations cover the tetralogy of the prologue (Das Rheingold) followed by three “days” – Die Walkure (The Valkyrie), Siegfried, and Die Gotterdammerung (The Twilight of the Gods). By the publication time of these 64 illustrations, Rackham (British) was well recognized in his profession. Having started in the field of graphic journalism in 1893 (before photos can be printed, news graphics were drawn), his fame first arrived in 1900 with his edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales and was farther strengthened by his 1905 Washington Irving’s Rip van Winkle. In the “Ring”, Rackham had the freedom to translate this operatic giant into a nearly self-explanatory, not-for-children (as Rackham had said) set of images with all the ferocity, wickedness, wretchedness, desperation, and heroism that each character represented. The women, in particular, are outstanding. Brunnhilde, as the introduction of the Valkyries in Die Walkure in Act II, was full of strength and courage, yet undeniably beautiful. Freia, the goddess of youth, in Das Rheingold, Scene II, had a pouty, youthful beauty that is simply perfect. I did notice that his interpretation of beauty is much slimmer and fitted than the art in a similar era; admittedly, it’s what I prefer.While I was vaguely familiar of this story, it was a pleasure to re-ponder on the influence that Wagner’s “Ring” had on Tolkien and the parallels to other literature such as the Excalibur. One of these days, I’ll clear my calendar and park my butt down to watch this tetralogy at the Opera House!One quote from the Introduction – on youth and C.S. Lewis:“…Rackham held that the work was strictly for adults. As he wrote to a young admirer, the illustrations ‘are not well suited for those lucky people who haven’t yet finished the delightful adventure of growing up.’ Nevertheless, C.S. Lewis, who was thirteen when the second volume was published, later wrote of it in ‘Surprised by Joy’, ‘His pictures, which seemed to me then to be the very music made visible, plunged me a few fathoms deeper into my delight. I have seldom coveted anything as I coveted that book…’”