Rackham, Arthur — Richard Wagner | "Hey! Come hither, And stop me this cranny!"

Rackham, Arthur — Richard Wagner

"Hey! Come hither, And stop me this cranny!" original ink drawing, from Richard Wagner's Die Walküre, or The Rhinegold and the Valkyrie, 1910

Ink and wash illustration (to sight: 360 x 260 mm). Signed at lower right and dated 1910; very faint toning. Matted, glazed, and framed; not examined out of frame.

"Hey! Come hither, And stop me this cranny!" — a striking Rackham image, inspired by Wagner's masterpiece.

The present image appeared at page 64 in the first edition of The Rhinegold & the Valkyrie (London: William Heinemann, 1910). The work was an English translation of the first two operas of the German composer Richard Wanger. Together, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Composition of the music, and Der Ring des Nibelungen: Composition of the poem, form Wagner's famed Ring Cycle, which influenced Tolkien and countless others.

(See following lot.)