After decades of neglect, the British Surrealist and occultist Ithell Colquhoun’s unique vision and hermetic life have generated enormous interest amongst historians and practitioners of art and magic. In ‘Genius of the Fern loved Gully,’ the first in-depth biographical study of Colquhoun and her work, Amy Hale examines the magical and cultural confluences that shaped her imaginative life and artistic vision.
Her name has largely slipped through the gaps of art history, and those who do know her work may associate her primarily with magic and the occult – but, with the acquisition of a huge archive, Tate is hoping that the artist Ithell Colquhoun will finally get the credit and recognition she deserves as a major figure in British surrealism.
Tate has announced that more than 5,000 sketches, drawings, and commercial artworks by Colquhoun have been transferred to it by the National Trust.
The first in-depth biographical study of the British surrealist and occultist Ithell Colquhoun. This book offers the first in-depth biographical study of the British surrealist and occultist Ithell Colquhoun, situating her art within the magical contexts that shaped her imaginative life and work. After decades of neglect, Colquhoun’s unique vision and hermetic life have become an object of great renewed interest, both for artists and for historians of magic.
Ithell Colquhoun: Image and Imagination 16 January — 19 March 2016 Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance An exhibition of work by Ithell Colquhoun (1906 – 1988), a Surrealist artist… Read more »