‘Seize the despoiler!, Rescue the gold! Help us! Help us! Woe! Woe!’ 1910

Arthur Rackham made this fantastical illustration – was it with ink, watercolour, or maybe a bit of both? – of the desperate cry for help. Just look at that figure diving into the abyss! I wonder what Rackham was thinking, making this image. The drama! The light and shadow feel so gothic, so theatrical. I imagine him hunched over the paper, obsessively drawing each strand of hair. And then the tiny figure, falling, flailing in the depths… Rackham’s lines seem to revel in texture and pattern. You know, this reminds me of some of Goya’s etchings, that same sense of nightmare. All artists steal from each other anyway, remixing things, and Rackham certainly conjures up a world that feels both timeless and strange. Ultimately, it reminds me that art is an ongoing conversation.