1931 Fairyland antique print, moonlight, gilt framed artwork

Ida Rentoul Outhwaite (1888–1960), Moonlight Fairy, 1931 — an original period colour plate from the first UK edition of Fairyland of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, published in London by A. & C. Black, presented in a wide cream mount and decorative gold frame. The ethereal fairy emerging beside a moonlit woodland pool, rendered in cool blue-green tones, captures the mysterious nocturnal atmosphere and delicate fantasy for which Outhwaite’s illustrations are especially admired. 

36cm x 28cm frame

16cm x 12cm artwork

About the Artist: Ida Rentoul Outhwaite was born in Carlton, Melbourne, in 1888 and became one of Australia’s most celebrated illustrators of fantasy and children’s literature. Her first published illustration appeared while she was still a teenager, and she subsequently collaborated extensively with her sister Annie R. Rentoul and her husband Grenbry Outhwaite. Working principally in pen and ink and watercolour, she created an unmistakable imaginative world of fairies, elves and enchanted landscapes, often incorporating Australian flora and fauna. Her best-known publications include Elves and Fairies, The Enchanted Forest, The Little Green Road to Fairyland and Fairyland. Her work achieved recognition in Australia and overseas and remains particularly sought after by collectors of Australian illustration and children’s literature.