Ida Outhwaite – Queen of the Fairy Illustrators

I’ve been a fan of Ida Outhwaite’s artwork for a long time. It all started back when I was collecting old postcards and ran across a postcard from Australia with her artwork. That postcard lead to another, then another and I started to focus on collecting them, a series of postcards printed from 1920 – 1940 by publisher A. & C. Black, Ltd . As I researched her work more, moving beyond the postcards to her books, notably Elves and Fairies (1916) and Fairyland (1926), her two most notable publications, I became enchanted with her imagery, inspired, and started to realize that what initially appeared as children’s book illustrations reached another level altogether. Below is a short biography and links to more expanded information about this wonderful artist.

Ida Sherbourne Outhwaite (1888-1960), was a celebrated artist in Australia who illustrated fairies within the elements of the Australian landscape. She was a prolific and gifted illustrator and achieved considerable fame, success and popularity in Australia and Europe during her publishing career.

In 1903 she published her first work and continued to publish in various works until 1958, with her best and most prolific years 1916 – 1933, a tour-de-force during that time. Together with stories from her sister Annie Rattray and others, Outhwaite primarily published in numerous children’s books. Outhwaite’s imagery was also displayed in numerous other print materials of her time, from periodicals to postcards, sheet music and advertisements.

Her artwork was popular due to her creative interpretation of the European tradition of fairies within an Australian context, but also due to the finely executed and detailed style of her delicate water colorings and pen and ink illustrations. Her work was whimsical, imaginative and refined, and appealed to generations of young readers of children’s books that included her artwork.

Since the initial successes of her time, her artwork has slowly grown in critical acknowledgement. Many of Outhwaite’s works include emotive depths, originality and technical refinement that have gradually moved the body of her work from being viewed as solely children’s illustrations and into the world of fine art.

Today she is considered by many the reigning queen of fairy illustrators of her time, (and present?), with her distinctly unique stylizations and settings. Though influenced by contempories such as Beardsley, Rackham, Dulac and Greenaway, she established her own vision well apart from the other artists of her day. Her works, originals and prints, are well known and highly sought after by collectors and museums.

Below are a few of her images. I’ve found the black and white images (pen and ink) are as captivating as her color work (watercolor).

For more images and information –

Ida Outhwaite – Facebook Page

Fairy Hill – Pinterest

Wikipedia – Ida Outhwaite (circa 1926)

For Further Reading…