Mary Fairburn

Mary Fairburn (born 13 June 1933) is an English artist and musician, best known for her illustrations for The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien, which in 1968 were seen and admired by the author. Her illustrations, unknown until 2012, were published as a body by HarperCollins in the Official Tolkien Calendar 2015. Fairburn has been living in Australia since 1976.

Early life

Fairburn was born in London. She was educated at St Swithun's School, Winchester, the Winchester School of Art and the Institute of Education, University of London.

Illustrations of The Lord of the Rings

In 2012, the story of her work for Tolkien was reported by literary scholar Paul Tankard, in the Times Literary Supplement. This led to her surviving Tolkien illustrations, with two newly-painted ones, being published by HarperCollins in the Official Tolkien Calendar 2015. Her young adult fantasy novel, Selangath: A Legend of the Sea, with her own illustrations, was self-published in 2019. In October 2020, her autobiography, Borne on the Wind: Memoirs of an Artist, was published. It includes many first-time reproductions, in colour, of art works from across her entire career. In 2021, she was the subject of a short film, "Mary Fairburn: Artist Musician Writer Universal Wanderer," by filmmaker Christine McCue.

Exhibitions Fairburn's art work has been exhibited in Winchester, Amantea (Italy), Melbourne and Castlemaine.