Existing comment:
The Silhouettes
Drawings in silhouette were very popular in the late eighteenth century in Europe, and portraitists who specialized in silhouette profiles proliferated in the nineteenth century in England and America. The public's interest in the science of physiognomy and classical art, especially Greek black-figure vase painting, contributed to their popularity.
Arthur Rackham took inspiration from the tradition of the silhouette and gave it his personal touch, expertly evoking humor and feeling through profile and gesture, and leading his readers through the narrative with the two-dimensional effect of his pen work. Rackham's silhouettes exaggerate or stylize the human or animal form in the head- and tailpieces for magazines, including those for adults, such as The Ladies' Field or Country Life, and children, such as Cassell's Magazine or Little Folks. However, he is best known for his explorations of the medium in his books Cinderella (1919) and The Sleeping Beauty (1920), which include sophisticated illustrations that experiment with texture and negative space in innovative ways. Silhouette books, even with additional colors added, had lower production costs than publications with color plate illustrations and thus became an attractive option for both publishers and customers in the uncertain post-war market. |