Australian Fairy Artists

Ida Rentoul Outhwaite

1988-1960
Ida Rentoul Outhwaite was born in Melbourne, Australia, 9th June, 1888. She was the daughter of amateur water-colourist Annie Rattray Rentoul and John Laurence Rentoul, Professor of New Testament Greek and Christian Philosophy at Melbourne University, and Moderator General of the Presbyterian Church. A precocious artist, Ida?s first published illustrations appeared in the New Idea magazine when she was only fifteen, and the following year saw her first illustrated book, Mollie?s Bunyip (1904), written by her sister Annie. She illustrated four more books, Mollie?s Staircase (1906), Australian Songs for Young and Old (1907), Gum-Tree Brownie (1907) and Before the Lamps are Lit (1911) before embarking on Elves and Fairies (1916), the book which most firmly established her reputation. Ida Rentoul Outhwaite In 1926 she reverted to Australian publication for Fairyland, another limited edition book. From 1933 to 1939 she contributed a regular comic strip, Benjamin Bear, to the Melbourne Weekly Times. The Outhwaites lived in South Yarra and had four children: two daughters and two sons. Grenbry Outhwaite died in 1938, and both sons were killed in action during the Second World War. Throughout the war, Ida worked for the Censorship Department in Melbourne, checking the mail of German and Italian prisoners of war and internees. She died in Melbourne in 1960, aged 72." Outhwaite published over 60 books in her lifetime and received acclaim for her whimsical pen-and-ink watercolors. In the 1920's and 30's she had numerous one-woman exhibits throughout Europe and Australia. She illustrated magazines, cards, songbooks, advertising materials and a comic strip throughout her career.