What, indeed, could she do 1911

This image was made by Arthur Rackham, who lived until 1939. It makes me wonder if the title, ‘What, indeed, could she do,’ might have been a real question he was asking. I feel for the person at the top of the cliff, so vulnerable, so exposed. And then, the line of folks at the bottom of the cliff. What can they do? The artist might have been thinking about narrative, and about illustrating a story or a fairytale. I see delicacy in the application of the ink. There is a cross hatching, where lines intersect, that creates texture and three-dimensionality, like you see in the work of other illustrative artists of the time. As painters, we all participate in an ongoing conversation, picking up where others leave off, experimenting, and pushing boundaries.