Collection Online as of March 23, 2023

"And now they never meet in grove or green," from act 2, scene 1 of A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

1908

Arthur Rackham

(British, 1867–1939)

England, 20th century

Pen and black ink and watercolor with scraping and minute touches of white gouache

Support: Artist’s illustration board

Sheet: 38.6 x 27 cm (15 3/16 x 10 5/8 in.)

Gift of Mrs. Don Hunter 1954.651

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Arthur Rackham was one of the first book illustrators to take advantage of color halftone printing, augmenting his ink drawings with subtle washes of transparent hues.

Description

This drawing is one of 40 made by Arthur Rackham to illustrate William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. It depicts the confrontation between Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairies, that takes place in the woods outside of Athens in act 2, scene 1. The artist painted a stormy sky looming over the magical couple to echo the story's mood. Rackham worked during a golden age of book illustration in England, around the turn of the 20th century, and the images he produced for literary works influenced future productions of Shakespeare's work.

Inscriptions

Inscription

signed and dated, in pen and black ink, at lower right: Arthur Rackham 08

Provenance

?-1954

Mrs. Don Hunter, Albany, GA, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

1954-

Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream: With Illustrations by Arthur Rackham, R.W.S. London: William Heinemann, 1908.

Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. Mineola, NY: Dover, 2003. Reproduced: p. 32

Lemonedes, Heather. British Drawings: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Mentioned: pp. 136-37, 147, no. 47; Reproduced: p. 137

Exhibition history

Water Color. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 6-August 27, 1962).

British Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art . The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 10-May 26, 2013).