Ruby Winckler

Ruby Winckler (25 August 1886 – 29 July 1974) was an Australian artist.

Ruby Winckler
Born(1886-08-25)25 August 1886
Sydney, Australia
Died29 July 1974(1974-07-29) (aged 87)
Sydney, Australia
EducationJulian Ashton Art School
Known forBook illustration
Notable workWho's Who in the Land of Nod

Biography

Winckler was born in Sydney 1886 to Captain Augustus Robinson Winckler and Jessie Louisa Winckler (née Green).[1] She had a brother George born in 1889.[2] Her father held a mining license at Kiandra[3][4] and declared bankruptcy multiple times.[5][6] Her brother served in the 2nd Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force in World War I where he was wounded.[7]

Ruby studied art at the Julian Ashton School[8] and with Sydney Long.[9] She was friends with the Lindsay family and her art style was very similar to that of Ruby Lindsay.[10] The Winckler family lived in Manly and when she wasn't working on her art Ruby was known to be a keen swimmer.[11]

Her first exhibition was with the Society of Artists in 1907.[12] She exhibited alongside female artists Alice Muskett and Ethel Stephens.[13] She also designed a cover for The Lone Hand.[14] The following year she exhibited some bookplates[15] and in 1909 her pictures were commended for their "ambitious and promising effort."[16]

Her work was already showing its originality from other female artists of the time with Sketch for a Frieze featuring the satyr from Greek mythology[17] and fairy tale illustrations.[18] She exhibited six large watercolours depicting the adventures of Cinderella.[19] Winckler was also associated with the Society of Women Painters,[20] as well as doing china painting.[21] A large mural she created for the Society of Women Painters exhibition in 1913 was unfortunately damaged by fire[22] and had a huge hole burned at the centre.[23] She also showed with the Queensland Art Society that year.[24]

In 1913 Winckler travelled to America[1] where she was commissioned by a Boston firm to illustrate The Arabian nights' entertainments.[25] After the author's son disliked some of her pictures causing them to be left out, Ruby remarked at she'd "rather illustrate the works of dead authors - they don't give any trouble."[26] Despite this, her drawings were described as "finely drawn and sympathetic representations of scenes in the great story book."[27]

She was the first of the Australian-born women who became children's book illustrators, with Edith Alsop's The Cobweb Ladder[28] and Ida Rentoul Outhwaite's Elves and Fairies[29] not coming out until 1916. She was also the first to reach an international audience, with Outhwaite only achieving this in 1921.[10] She would also illustrate Kisington Town[30] and Who's Who in the Land of Nod.[31]

Winckler returned to Sydney in 1916 where she continued exhibiting her fantasy illustrations.[32] She contributed to the Australian Soldiers Gift Book edited by Ethel Turner and Bertram Stevens.[33][34] She was commissioned for a proposed illustrated version of Homer's Odyssey though this was never realised outside of exhibition.[35][36] These drawings are now held in a private collection.[37] Her last known exhibition was with the Society of Artists in 1918.[38]

Ruby Winckler's papers are held by the State Library of New South Wales,[39] as well as select artworks.[40]

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b "Ancestry Library Edition". ancestrylibrary.proquest.com. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  2. ^ "New South Wales Births Index". New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  3. ^ "Government Gazette Notices". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 16 May 1924. p. 2384. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  4. ^ "LEASES held under the Regulations of 13th May, 1895, and Mining Laws Amendment Act of 1901". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. 21 July 1924. p. 3676. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  5. ^ "IN BANKRUPTCY". New South Wales Government Gazette. 2 September 1892. p. 7109. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  6. ^ "Advertising". Daily Telegraph. 31 January 1923. p. 12. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  7. ^ First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914–1920. National Archives of Australia.
  8. ^ "WOMEN'S INTERESTS". Sunday Times. 11 April 1915. p. 5. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  9. ^ Kerr, Joan, ed. (1995). Heritage: the national women's art book; 500 works by 500 Australian women artists from colonial times to 1955. Australia: G+B Arts International. ISBN 978-976-641-045-2.
  10. ^ a b Holden, Robert (1992). A Golden Age : Visions of fantasy : Australia's fantasy illustrators : their lives and works. Angus & Robertson. p. 113. ISBN 0207166978.
  11. ^ "Australian Women". Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. 28 August 1907. p. 558. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  12. ^ "SOCIETY OF ARTISTS". Evening News. 15 August 1907. p. 8. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  13. ^ "Australian Women". Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. 28 August 1907. p. 558. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  14. ^ "Comments and Enquiries". Farmer and Settler. 12 July 1907. p. 8. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  15. ^ "Society of Artists". Australian Town and Country Journal. 21 October 1908. p. 55. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  16. ^ "WORK OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTISTS". Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. 24 November 1909. p. 34. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  17. ^ "A Woman's Letter". The Bulletin. Vol. 29, no. 1497. 22 October 1908. p. 22. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  18. ^ "Society of Artists, Etc". The Bulletin. Vol. 30, no. 1555. 2 December 1909. p. 15. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  19. ^ "The Society of Artists' Spring Exhibition". Art and architecture : the journal of the Institute of Architects of New South Wales. Vol. 6, no. 6. 1 November 1909. p. 199. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  20. ^ "Society of Women Painters' Exhibition". Art and architecture: the journal of the Institute of Architects of New South Wales. Vol. 8, no. 5. 1 September 1911. p. 340. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  21. ^ "SOCIETY OF ARTISTS". Truth. 3 December 1911. p. 6. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  22. ^ "GOSSIP FROM SYDNEY". Goulburn Evening Penny Post. 16 August 1913. p. 6. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  23. ^ "SOCIETY DOING IN SYDNEY". Australasian. 16 August 1913. p. 43. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  24. ^ "QUEENSLAND ART SOCIETY". Telegraph. 11 September 1913. p. 5. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  25. ^ "Sydney Week b[?]Week. I". Table Talk. 18 February 1915. p. 34. Retrieved 28 December 2025.
  26. ^ "A Woman's Letter". The Bulletin. Vol. 36, no. 1854. 26 August 1915. p. 18. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  27. ^ "Ruby Winckler". The Lone Hand. Vol. 3, no. 5. 1 April 1915. p. 330. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  28. ^ Nankivell, Joice; Alsop, Edith (1916). The Cobweb Ladder. Melbourne: Lothian Book Publishing Co.
  29. ^ Rentoul Outhwaite, Ida (1916). Elves & fairies. Melbourne & Sydney: Lothian Book Publishing.
  30. ^ Farwell Brown, Abbie; Winckler, Ruby (1915). Kisington Town. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
  31. ^ Sanderson Vanderbilt, Sarah (1915). Who's Who in the Land of Nod. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
  32. ^ "GOSSIP FROM SYDNEY". Goulburn Evening Penny Post. 9 December 1916. p. 1. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  33. ^ "Australian Soldiers Gift Book". Sydney Stock and Station Journal. 15 December 1916. p. 9. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  34. ^ Turner, Ethel; Stevens, Bertram (1918). The Australian Soldiers Gift Book. Sydney: Voluntary Workers' Association.
  35. ^ "The Women Painters of Sydney". The Triad. Vol. 2, no. 9. 10 June 1917. p. 22. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  36. ^ "A Woman's Letter". The Bulletin. Vol. 38, no. 1936. 22 March 1917. p. 18. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  37. ^ "Ruby Winckler, Group of 23 Original Pen and Ink Drawings for a Proposed Illustrated Edition of Homer's Odyssey, 1916-1917". Fine Art Society. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  38. ^ "IN THE WINTER GARDEN". Freeman's Journal. 17 October 1918. p. 28. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
  39. ^ Ruby Winckler papers, [c. 1870 – 1987]. State Library of New South Wales.
  40. ^ Ruby Winckler artworks. State Library of New South Wales.
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