Ithell Colquhoun
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988) was a British surrealist, occultist, poet, and writer.
With a mystical belief in the wholeness of creation, Colquhoun sought to transcend all divisions. For her, surrealism and the occult provided two closely related paths to enlightenment.[1]
Personal life
Margaret Ithell Colquhoun was born on October 9, 1906 in Shillong, a hill town in the far north eastern region of India situated between Bangladesh and Myanmar (Burma). Her parents were Henry Archibald Colebrooke Colquhoun, a British civil servant, and Georgia Frances Ithell Manley. Her education took place in Rodwell, near Weymouth, Dorset. She attended Cheltenham Ladies' College, spent a year at Cheltenham School of Art, and then the Slade School of Art in London, beginning in 1927.
In 1943 she married Russian-born Italian artist and critic Toni del Renzio. They lived in London and enjoyed social life with other artists, but divorced in 1947.
Colquhoun continued work as an artist until around 1983, but spent her final years in a nursing home, where she died on April 11, 1988.
Artistic career
Public recognition of Colquhoun's artistry began in 1929, when she was awarded the Slade's Summer Composition Prize for her oil painting Judith Showing the Head of Holofernes. Two years later it was exhibited in the Royal Academy, now it is held in the collection of the University of London. While the concept of painting a woman holding a severed head seems grisly to modern eyes, this scene has been the subject of many paintings by great masters and is seen in a corner of the Sistine Chapel. Interpretations have evolved over time from Judith as a heroine trying to protect her people from Assyrian (Holofernes) aggression; to Judith as a virtuous example of womanhood; to Judith defeating Protestant heresy; to the triumph of spiritual discernment over the corruption and tyranny.
The first major solo exhibition of her work took place in Cheltenham, 1936, comprising 91 items. That same year the Fine Art Society displayed 24 depictions of exotic plants. At least 24 solo exhibitions have occurred since.[2]
Colquhoun was prolific, and covered a wide range of subjects, including portraits, landscapes, architecture, theatrical scenes, and botanical paintings. Richard Shillitoe has described her major themes in some detail at this web page, including:
- Sex and gender, including sexual dimorphism in nature
- Goddess spirituality
- Ordering the cosmos through hermetic correspondences
- Transitions and transformations in the natural, human, and spirit realms
- Eastern influences and comparative religions, including Qabalah, chakras, Kundalini, caduceus
In 2019, the Tate acquired the artist's archive of 5,000 pieces from the National Trust, and the artist is beginning to receive the attention she deserves.
Involvement with Theosophists
During her studies at Slade School of Art in London, she met Theosophist G. R. S. Mead and joined his Quest Society. She wrote an article called "The Prose of Alchemy" in one of that group's last periodicals, The Quest.
Her book Sword of Wisdom documents the Golden Dawn and its overlapping membership with the Theosophical Society.
Writings
- Sword of Wisdom: MacGregor Mathers and the “Golden Dawn”. London: Neville Spearman, 1975. First American edition, NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1975.
- A history of the Golden Dawn movement.
- Crying of the Wind: Ireland. 1955. Reprinted by Pushkin Press, 2025.
- Travelogue.
- The Living Stones: Cornwall. 1957. Reprinted by Pushkin Press, 2025.
- Travelogue.
- Goose of Hermogenes. 1961. Reprinted by Pushkin Press, 2025.
- An occult novel featuring a black magician reminiscent of Shakespeares' Prospero.
- I Saw Water: An Occult Novel and Other Selected Writings. With an introduction and notes by Richard Shillitoe and Mark S. Morrisson. Penn State University Press, 2014. Published posthumously.
- This alchemical novel centers on a novice nun in the Sisters of the Parthenogenesis in an island convent that is the receiving-house of the newly dead.
Additional resources
Articles
- Ithell Colquhoun in Wikipedia.
- The Magic Surrealism of Ithell Colquhoun by Amy Hale. Posted 17 Jun 2020 on ArtUK.org.
Websites
- Ithell Colquhoun: Magician Born of Nature. "Follow these links for a series of brief essays about Colquhoun’s artistic development; a comprehensive catalogue of her paintings, drawings and watercolours; pages that list all the known exhibitions in which her work has been included and where to see her works in public collections."
Notes
- ↑ The Major Themes by Richard Shillitoe. Accessed 6 January 2026.
- ↑ "The Artist: Solo Exhibitions". Accessed 6 January 2026.
