Seems strange that I’ve not written about any of the artists associated with the Golden Age of Illustration, considering how foundational they are to our concept of fantasy as a genre (which didn’t really exist, per se, until the ’70s). The period began around 1890, fueled by new printing techniques and a demand for beautiful storybooks to be given as Christmas gifts, and ended with the Great War (this is really a commercial market designation, as most of the illustrators continuing to produce work well after the war).

The artist probably most associated with the Golden Age is assuredly Arthur Rackham. And he’s great! David Larkin’s Arthur Rackham (1975) is an excellent overview of the artist’s entire body of work (which get’s increasingly realistic over time). His style of figure poses, the rich textures of his watercolor backgrounds and his whimsy all reverberate in the work of other artists of the period. He had a great talent for depicting faeries and giants in a believable rural setting. The image of the fairy ring is probably one of his most famous, but the two-headed Welsh giant is a personal fave. He wasn’t really one for monsters — odd looking people, sure, animals, sure, combinations of the two, sure, but aside of that excellent Chimera and the occasional dragon, I can’t really think of any other Rackham beasties.

He’s an obvious influence on Tony DiTerlizzi’s work — some of TD’s later Planescape illustrations really experiment in the deep, textured watercolors of Rackham’s landscapes. I think folks would say he’s an influence on Charles Vess, too, and I don’t disagree, really, but I think Nielsen and Dulac more strongly inform his work.

Oh, I will say, I find most of Rackham’s children extremely creepy and doll-like. They look like they bite. Maybe they’re the monsters!