BEGINNINGS
The long sea voyage, with its ample opportunities for sketching, had quite decided him to be an artist, and in the autumn of 1884 he entered the Lambeth School of Art. His fellow students included Leonard Raven-Hill, Thomas Sturge Moore, and Charles Ricketts; the last-named particularly influenced Rackham. But there was no question of his art-studies occupying the whole of his time; he had to prove his ability and work his way. Thus on 11th November 1884, his old masters Rushbrooke and Abbott both took up their pens on his behalf. Rushbrooke recommended him ‘on the score of intelligence, industry and character’, while his late headmaster Edwin Abbott declared that ‘as regards ability, knowledge, character, and gentlemanly bearing Mr Arthur Rackham would be well suited for the clerkship he is now seeking in the Westminster Fire Office’.
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