“One Day There Came to him Sindbad the Landsman,” from “The First Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor,” in “The Arabian Nights”

Edward Julius Detmold

1922 · Watercolor · Drawings and Prints

A leading early twentieth-century illustrator, Detmold created this impressive watercolor for Hodder and Stoughton’s 1924 edition of "The Arabian Nights." Eastern tales had long fascinated the artist, who came to public notice in 1908 by illustrating Rudyard Kipling’s "The Jungle Book." The heightened colors and hyperfocused detail here recall Persian miniatures and lend a surreal air suited to the fantastic subject. In the book, the image introduces tales told by Sindbad the Sailor to a porter also named Sindbad. Now a successful merchant, the adventurer overhears the ragged porter bemoaning his fate at his door, invites him in for a meal, and here introduces the humble guest to effete figures gathered in a sumptuous interior.

Artist

Edward Julius Detmold

Date

1922

Medium

Watercolor

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of James David Draper, from the Robert Isaacson Collection, 2014