He took the princess by both hands and they danced about with all the little goblins, for "The Travelling Companion"
A leader of Britain’s golden age of British book illustration, Rackham here responds to Hans Christian Andersen’s tale "The Travelling Companion." This tells of a princess bewitched by a goblin who defeats suitors with impossible questions, then has them put to death. When a young man appears who succeeds at two out of her three tests, the princess visits the goblin in his mountain cave to consult. Rackham’s image relates to the following passage: "Then [the goblin] took the princess by both hands, and they danced with all the little goblins and Jack-o’-lanterns in the room. The red spiders sprang here and there on the walls quite as merrily, and the flowers of fire appeared as if they were throwing out sparks. The owl beat the drum, the crickets whistled and the grasshoppers played the mouthorgan. It was a very ridiculous ball." A mature imagination and skilled brush created a delightful array of magical creatures shown here in swirling movement.
Artwork Details
- Title: He took the princess by both hands and they danced about with all the little goblins, for "The Travelling Companion"
- Artist: Arthur Rackham (British, London 1867–1939 Limpsfield, Surrey)
- Author: Related author Hans Christian Andersen (Danish, Odense 1805–1875 Copenhagen)
- Date: 1904
- Medium: Watercolor and pen and ink
- Dimensions: Sheet: 9 3/4 in. × 9 in. (24.8 × 22.8 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler, 2020
- Object Number: 2021.16.18
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Arthur Rackham
1916
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