Arthur Rackham – The Beggars Are Coming to Town Original Watercolor, 1912

Artist: Arthur Rackham (1867–1939)

Title: The Beggars Are Coming to Town

Year: 1912

Medium: Watercolor and ink on paper

Image Size: 10.2 × 7.1 inches (26 × 18 cm)

Signed and dated: 1912

An atmospheric original Arthur Rackham watercolor dating from 1912, titled The Beggars Are Coming to Town. The title evokes the famous Mother Goose rhyme “Hark, Hark! The Dogs Do Bark, the Beggars Are Coming to Town,” a subject Rackham was exploring during the same period as his celebrated nursery-rhyme illustrations.

This 1912 painting therefore represents a fascinating alternative treatment of the same subject, displaying the delicate washes, muted palette and mysterious atmosphere that characterize Rackham's finest fantasy work.

The painting has exhibited in The British Art of Illustration 1800–1997 as no. 255. It was subsequently exhibited by The Fine Art Society, London, in The Fine Art of Illustration in July 2001.

Artist: Arthur Rackham

Arthur Rackham (1867–1939) was one of the greatest artists of the Golden Age of British illustration. His celebrated books include Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Rip Van Winkle, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mother Goose, The Ingoldsby Legends, The Ring of the Nibelung and The Wind in the Willows. His distinctive combination of intricate pen work and delicate watercolor made his interpretations of fairy tales, folklore and fantasy some of the most recognizable illustrations of the early 20th century.