ART SCHOOL AND AFTER
We are fortunate in having Rackham’s own reminiscences and his considered opinion of this strenuous period in the office and the school. They are contained in a letter to Mr W. E. Dawe, a young man who found himself in much the same dilemma as Rackham had done, and who wrote to ask Rackham’s advice in 1909, when he was at the height of his fame. The letter is a remarkable example of disinterested generosity from a busy professional to an anxious beginner entirely unknown to him.
‘I was much interested by your letter and it will need rather a long letter to answer it satisfactorily. As you say you appear to be in much the same case as myself in having to go out into the world & earn your living at the age of 17; (and for the next seven years or so I worked as hard as I could out of business hours (9–5) to equip my self as an artist – not being able to embark on a professional career till was nearly 25, & then for many years getting the barest living from my profession & having to do much distasteful hack work.)
‘Now above all I do not want to be damping, but you must bear with my putting the case very plainly.30