Stealing the Lunch: Goblins at a Woodland Picnic
n.p.: , 1921. Item #05235
“Stealing the Lunch”
A Remarkable 1921 Fantasy Watercolor
In the Manner of Arthur Rackham
GUGGENHEIM, G. [Stealing the Lunch: Goblins at a Woodland Picnic]. 1921.
Original pen, ink and watercolor drawing on paper, signed and dated at lower left “G. Guggenheim. 1921.” and additionally inscribed at lower right “Arthur Rackham 09.”
Image size: 10 1/2 x 14 7/8 inches; 267 x 378 mm. Matted, framed and glazed. Frame size: 20 1/4 x 24 1/4 inches; 514 x 616 mm.
A remarkable and highly accomplished early twentieth-century fantasy watercolor, consciously executed in the celebrated fairy-tale manner of Arthur Rackham.
The wonderfully eccentric woodland composition depicts a gathering of goblin-like creatures whose outdoor feast has descended into comic chaos. At the left, a large long-beaked bird makes its escape with a ham or joint of meat suspended from its beak, while one unfortunate goblin sprawls headlong in pursuit. At the center, an extraordinary assortment of grotesque figures reacts to the commotion: one plays an accordion, another points accusingly toward the fleeing thief, while others clutch drinking vessels and food.
The surrounding details are equally engaging. A table is laden with bottles, fruit and drinking vessels; overturned crockery lies scattered upon the ground; mushrooms crowd the foreground; a rat watches cautiously from among the rocks at right; and a squirrel looks down upon the proceedings from an overhanging branch.
The artist has clearly immersed himself in Arthur Rackham's distinctive visual vocabulary - grotesque and attenuated fairy-tale figures, gnarled woodland forms, mischievous supernatural creatures, finely drawn pen outlines and restrained transparent washes of brown, green, red and blue. Yet the elaborate composition appears to be an original conception rather than a direct copy of a known Rackham illustration.
Of particular interest are the two inscriptions. At lower left the drawing is signed and dated “G. Guggenheim. 1921.”, while at lower right appears “Arthur Rackham 09”, written in imitation of Rackham's familiar signature and dating.
Despite extensive research, we have been unable to identify the artist G. Guggenheim or to trace this composition to a published illustration by Arthur Rackham. The Rackham inscription is therefore best regarded as part of the artist's deliberate homage to - and imitation of - Rackham's unmistakable style.
An unusually large, detailed and accomplished Rackham-inspired fantasy drawing, and a fascinating testament to the enormous influence of Arthur Rackham upon the imaginative art of the early twentieth century.
Price: $1,000.00