Fish was born in
Horfield in Bristol in 1890 before her family moved to London. She became a cartoonist and illustrator after studying with
C. M. Q. Orchardson,
George Belcher and
John Hassall. She went to work for the publisher
John Lane. Her debut work was creating cartoons for
Stephen Leacock's humorous book
Behind the Beyond. Her work was compared to
Aubrey Beardsley although Fish noted that she did not see his work until after the comparison had been made. Her illustrations for the "Letters of Eve" in
The Tatler spawned films, theatre and three books. The costumes imagined for
Phyllis Dare when she played Eve at the Adelphi Theatre were said to have influenced ladies fashions.
Gladys Emma Peto created drawings for "The letters of Phrynette" in
The Sketch. This was so similar to "Letters of Eve" that there was a court case. Fish was the illustrator of "Eve" until 1920 and after that the character continued to appear in Pan magazine illustrated by Jo White and later Dolly Tree. In 1922 she illustrated a luxury edition of
Edward Fitzgerald's
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Fish retired to
St Ives in the 1940s. Her husband, Walter William Sefton, died in 1952. She died in
Hayle in Cornwall in 1964 after falling in the bath. File:Phyllis_Dare_as_Annie_Fishs_Eve_in_Nina_in_1915.png|
Phyllis Dare as Annie Fish's "Eve" in 1915 file:Annie Fish illustration 1922.png|An illustration from
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam == References ==