The Tempest, Act I, Scene 2 (Caliban: "Wouldst give me Water with berries in't") by Dulac, Edmund - 1908

1908. Watercolor, pencil and ink on paper, signed "Edmund Dulac 08" (lower left), additionally inscribed on verso: "Caliban. Wouldst give me water with berries in it ... Act I Sc. II" and numbered 39. 15 x 9-7/8 in. Matted and framed. Watercolor, pencil and ink on paper, signed "Edmund Dulac 08" (lower left), additionally inscribed on verso: "Caliban. Wouldst give me water with berries in it ... Act I Sc. II" and numbered 39. 15 x 9-7/8 in. A beautiful watercolor from Dulac's second major gift book commission for Hodder & Stoughton. The Dulac Tempest was issued as part of a projected series of Shakespeare illustrated by contemporary artists that was never completed. "Dulac can be considered a perfect illustrator for Shakespeare because of his tendency always to mix in with serious pictures some humorous ones, just as Shakespeare inserted scenes of comic relief between his serious ones ... Dulac shows sensitivity to the nuances of the sea with his beautiful greens and blues and patterns of surf and rocks" (Hughey). Dulac "showed greater human understanding as the illustrations moved beyond stage scenes and became mood pictures or tone poems ... Dulac's greater assurance in The Tempest was manifested in many beautifully observed scenes ... Caliban looks like a benevolent Neanderthal man, not very frightening, as befits an edition for children ... The publication of The Tempest in November 1908 was again timed to coincide with the Leicester Galleries' exhibition of the original watercolours, and both the art and book critics acclaimed his work, particularly his treatment of the sea" (White, Edmund Dulac, p. 36). Exhibited: Leicester Galleries. Literature: Shakespeare's Comedy of the Tempest (Hodder & Stoughton, 1908), p. 26; Hughey, Edmund Dulac: His Book Illustrations, no. 19