OUTHWAITE, IDA RENTOUL (1888-1960)

“Girl By The Pond” (c.1904-09)
Ink on paper
25 x 21.5cm
Signed lower left
*private collection, Sydney
 
Outhwaite was a pioneering and leading Australian Illustrator. Best known for her fantastical and magical interpretation of Australian culture and folklore, this fantastic illustration was produced very early in Rentoul's career, around the time of her first publication "Millie's Bunyips"(1904), and most likely produced for one of the many National magazines she illustrated for, such as 'Lone Hand' or 'The Bulletin'. A frog would feature prominently in her later unpublished "Hoppity's House" (c.1930) as well as several other works. Outhwaite's first illustration was published by New Idea magazine in 1904 when she was just 15 years of age – it accompanied a story written by her older sister, Anne Rattray Rentoul. In the years that followed, the sisters collaborated on a number of stories. Following her marriage to Grenbry Outhwaite in 1909, she also collaborated with her husband – most notably for The Enchanted Forest (1921), The Little Fairy Sister (1923) and Fairyland (1926). In a number of cases, her children – Robert, Anne, Wendy and William – served as models for her illustrations. She inspired a number of artists including Edith Alsop, Ethel Spowers and Ethel Jackson Morris. Her illustrations were exhibited throughout Australia, as well as in London and Paris between 1907 and 1933. Her work is represented in all major National Galleries and Important Institutions.