IDA THE ILLUSTRATOR

23 September 2026

A couple of weeks ago I heard a brief radio piece about a woman I’d never heard of although as it turns out, I think I’ve seen her work in the past: Ida Rentoul Outhwaite. Last century, she created utterly charming images of fairies and elves within an Australian context including koala bears and lyrebirds. She published her first book, with her sister as author, when she was 16 in 1904, and in 1916 her work was published in one of Australia’s first fine art books. 


But have you heard of her?

And the reasons why she faded from favour and lacks recognition are mulitiudinous:

  • She was a woman
  • She was considered an “illustrator” rather than an artist
  • She also did illustrations for commercial companies as well as for books
  • She painted fantasy figures rather than hefty bushman.




It was interesting looking at some of the beautiful botanical drawings done by early explorers and colonists in the Eucalyptus exhibition at the Potter Gallery of Art mentioned in a previous post. They too were described as “illustrators” rather than artists for reasons that escape me. Why is that someone who painted a portrait or a landscape is an artist but not a person who painted the leaves and fruit of a gum tree?



If you want to know more about Ida, here’s an ABC podcast: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-history-listen/idas-road-to-fairyland/10280634

Her books have even inspired music: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/classic/featured-music/feature-albums/the-little-green-road-to-fairyland/11077856

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