Fairies are all more or less in hiding until dusk 1913

Editor: Here we have Arthur Rackham’s watercolor and coloured pencil illustration, “Fairies are all more or less in hiding until dusk,” created in 1913. The delicate lines and muted colors create this dreamlike quality…a sense of childlike wonder. What’s your take on this piece? Curator: Rackham’s work, especially this piece, exists in a fascinating space. We see this idealized vision of childhood, a theme heavily romanticized during the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras, yet there’s also this undercurrent of the uncanny. Look at the fairies; they are "in hiding" which is itself a metaphor for marginalized groups forced into secrecy due to social pressures of his time. Editor: So, you're saying that this fantasy landscape can be interpreted as commentary on the marginalization and visibility of certain groups? Curator: Precisely! Fairylands often symbolize spaces free from societal constraints, representing hidden lives, alternative genders, and perhaps even veiled critiques of power structures. The figure peeking out from behind the tree – is it a child, or is it something else? What norms is this figure testing? Editor: That makes me see the figures inhabiting under the tree’s roots completely differently – I initially thought they were just asleep, but now it seems they might be actively concealing themselves! Curator: And consider Rackham's personal life as well, grappling with societal expectations as a children's book illustrator in a rapidly modernizing world. Don't you think we can perhaps interpret his subject as representing that personal tension? Editor: Wow, I hadn’t considered that personal connection, and it enriches the symbolism of the artwork. Thank you for offering this deeper interpretation. Curator: My pleasure. Art opens these discussions about visibility, otherness, and resistance through a symbolic lens.