Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011141The Green Dragon
About the Artwork
One of the best-known book illustrators of his time, Arthur Rackham worked at the turn of the 20th century in the period now sometimes described as the genre's golden age. His style combined intricate line work with delicate coloring to create scenes that were timeless, mysterious, and sometimes dark. This combination was particularly well suited for fantasy subjects like fairytales, Nordic and Germanic legends, and the dragon in this illustration, first published in his Book of Pictures of 1913. The beast's sinuous body echoes the lines describing the trees' gnarly trunks, roots, and branches, and the ripples of the water in the stream, highlighting its unity with the nature that surrounds it. Rackham evokes a world both similar and different to our own, where nature is both magical and dangerous.
Exhibition history
Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982). From Block Books to Baskin: Artists as Illustrators. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 13-August 17, 1986). Fairy Tales and Fables: Illustration and Storytelling in Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 4-September 8, 2024).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Arthur Rackham (British, 1867–1939)
- Date
- 1910
- Medium
- pen and black ink and watercolor on paper
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 28 x 19 cm (11 x 7 1/2 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. Don Hunter
- Accession no.
- 1954.652
More by Arthur Rackham in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00011141
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