1931 Fairyland antique print, moon, gilt framed artwork

Ida Rentoul Outhwaite (1888–1960), Catching the Moon on a Rope of Dewdrops, 1931 — an original period colour plate from the London edition of Fairyland of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, published by A. & C. Black, presented within a deep cream mount and ornate gilt frame. A solitary fairy reaches toward the moon with a shimmering strand of dewdrops beneath a star-filled blue night sky, creating one of Outhwaite’s most poetic and atmospheric visions of the Australian fairy world. The 1931 London Fairyland contained numerous colour plates after Outhwaite’s illustrations. 

46cm c 36cm frame

15cm x 13cm artwork

About the Artist: Ida Rentoul Outhwaite was born in Carlton, Melbourne, in 1888 and became one of Australia’s foremost illustrators of fantasy and children’s literature. Her first published illustration appeared in New Idea when she was only fifteen, accompanying a story by her sister Annie R. Rentoul, with whom she subsequently collaborated extensively. Outhwaite developed an immediately recognisable world of fairies, elves and enchanted landscapes through finely detailed pen-and-ink drawings and richly atmospheric watercolours. Her major publications include Elves and Fairies, The Enchanted Forest, The Little Green Road to Fairyland and Fairyland, and she exhibited in Australia as well as London and Paris. Her work remains highly collectible and is represented in major Australian collections, including the National Gallery of Victoria.