‘Mopsa The Fairy’ by Jean Ingelow 1920

Curator: What strikes me immediately about this drawing is the sense of wild abandon – a controlled frenzy. It reminds me of a vivid dream teetering on the edge of a nightmare. Editor: We’re looking at Dorothy Lathrop’s ‘Mopsa The Fairy,’ an ink drawing on paper from 1920. It illustrates a scene from Jean Ingelow's Victorian-era fairy tale. Curator: Victorian, you say? Now it all clicks. There's a certain darkness – that bittersweet innocence – that always seems to lurk in the corners of Victorian-era imaginings. Like pretty music boxes that play dirges. And look at the children below – are they reaching for help, or grabbing for the wheel of that...wagon? What IS that contraption, anyway? Editor: It’s Mopsa's chariot. We see the careful rendering of patterns on Mopsa’s dress and the use of densely packed, fine lines to create shadow. Lathrop uses a simple ink medium to construct complex imagery. The drawing itself was most likely intended as a book illustration for mass consumption. Notice also the repetitive nature of the bars in the birdcages that gives it a claustrophobic, even oppressive, atmosphere. Curator: Claustrophobic is the word. Are we meant to empathize with Mopsa or with those children, or even with the caged birds above? I get the feeling Lathrop wants to destabilize our allegiances; is it fantasy, or social critique? Is this meant to be pure escapism or something else altogether? It doesn't quite settle for me. Editor: Escapism and social critique aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. Look at the Victorian era’s own anxieties about industrialization reflected here in the machinery alongside these ethereal, caged creatures. Lathrop masterfully highlights the intersection of industrial progress with nature. There's commentary embedded even in a ‘simple’ children’s illustration. I imagine it probably challenged rigid boundaries and expectations. Curator: Exactly! You know, I went in ready to dismiss this as 'charming fantasy,' but seeing that slight unsettling dissonance... That little push and pull towards something darker? It feels incredibly modern now. I'm quite glad for that second look. Editor: Yes, seeing art through different lenses provides new perspectives, always relevant within our shifting understanding of the human experience.