The Bear and the Fox 1912

Arthur Rackham made this drawing called ‘The Bear and the Fox’ with ink on paper at some point in his career. There's a definite back-and-forth happening here. Looking at the stark contrasts, the black ink bleeding into the white of the page, I can imagine Rackham hunched over the paper, letting his pen dance and scratch, finding the shapes in the negative space. I get a feeling he was maybe exploring the power dynamics of the animal world, maybe even mirroring human society? The bear, a hulking mass of brute strength, and the fox, all sly cunning and sharp angles. Notice how the line work changes depending on the animal? The bear is all solid silhouette, whereas the fox has a spiky fur texture achieved through frantic mark making. It's like Rackham is using the very materials of drawing to sketch out their personalities. I wonder if he was thinking of the animal fables of Aesop? Drawing is a conversation across time, and Rackham’s drawing invites us to think about power, storytelling, and the endless possibilities held within a simple line.