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Home > Illustrations > The Farmer's Supper

The Farmer’s Supper

By Arthur Rackham | Created: ca.1932

The Farmer’s Supper
Publication
  • Little Claus and Big Claus
Publication Date
  • 1935
Medium
  • Watercolor, pen and ink, and gouache
Support
  • Paper
Illustration Size
  • 11.125 x 9.5 in.
Collection
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art

©Public Domain

Rackham's great success as a children's book illustrator was founded both on his whimsical imagery and understanding of the new four-color printing process. Since the latter could effectively translate only a narrow range of hues, the artist worked in muted tones to ensure the faithful reproducion of his watercolors. Often, he made drawings much larger than the related illustrations and sold them as independent works. This image relates to Hans Christian Andersen's "Little Claus and Big Claus," published by George G. Harrap & Co. in 1935 (MMA, 1986.1145.11) a fairy tale in which Little Claus revenges himself on a cruel fellow villager Big Claus, and here is shown tricking a farmer's family to procure a lavish meal. The donor acquired the watercolor from the artist two years after its publication.

Genres
  • Books
  • Interior Illustration
  • Courtroom Drawings
Global Perspectives
  • Europe
Related Time Periods
  • The Decade 1930-1940 The Decade 1930-1940

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- Norman Rockwell

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