‘Mopsa The Fairy’ by Jean Ingelow 1920

Dorothy Lathrop made this ink drawing, titled ‘Mopsa The Fairy’, with bold contrasts in black and white. Look at that magical scene, those lines like scratch marks, full of dynamism and a little disquiet. I can imagine Lathrop hunched over a table, the nib of her pen scratching across the paper, slowly building up the image in layers. The mountains look so graphic, like a child's drawing. I feel like Lathrop knew that the best way to get to the truth of an image is to make it up. And the fairy is so delicate, holding on for dear life! I feel like she’s a stand-in for the artist, hovering between worlds, using her imagination to make sense of things. I see Lathrop and I see myself, as well as other artists, all just trying to find our way in the dark.