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Blavatsky portraits and photographs 

These are photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other depictions of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, also known as HPB. They are presented chronologically by date of creation, as much as possible. Individual renderings and small groups are included, but not large group photos.

This collection of photos was inspired by a display on the Theosophy Canada website in 2005, "A Pictorial Look at H. P. Blavatsky," which has more recently evolved into a slide show. Many thanks go to the Edmonton Theosophical Society for the inspiration and the research that went into its collection.

Images used here are scanned from the photo collection of the Theosophical Society in America, the Blavatsky Archives, and other sources, which are identified where possible, with copyright data if applicable. Additions and corrections are welcome.

Photograph or Art Work	Year Created	Artist	Notes
	Late 1840s	Unknown	Painting of young H. P. Blavatsky and her mother, H. Hahn. It is at the H. P. B. museum in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. The painter is unknown, but it may have been HPB herself.
	1840s	Unknown	HPB painted as "The Lovely Maiden." The reproduction was made by means of a special process from a printed copy which was first published in Sinnett's book "Incidents in the Lif eof Mme. Blavatsky." The print was from a medallion painting, which had been sent to Nadyejda de Fadeyev (as related when her photograph was shown.
	1850s	Unknown	Young HPB dressed in furs.
	1860s	Unknown	HPB in a hoop skirt. Most likely the picture about which General Rostislav wrote: "taken 20 years ago in my presence." September 18, 1881.
	1870s	Napoleon Sarony?	H. P. Blavatsky in New York days, from Blavatsky Archives.
	1870s	Unknown	Photograph reproduced in A. P. Sinnett's Incidents in the Life of Mme. Blavatsky.
File:HPB drawing from NYPL Digital Collection.jpg	1870s	Unknown	From New York Public Library Digital Collection.
	1870s	Charles T. Scowen	From New York Public Library Digital Collection.
	1874	Unknown	Portrait by a spiritualist photographer.
	September 1875	J. Beardsley	Photograph taken in Ithaca NY in September 1875 while HPB was visiting Professor Hiram Corson and writing Isis Unveiled. In an undated letter, written to Professor H. Corson, H.P.B. wrote about the photographs Beardsley had taken: The important factor here is that H.P.B. actually ordered two dozen portraits made of this special photograph. "When will Beardsley send me the rest of my portraits? Please order from him two dozen more of those with the cigarette in the hand, only bigger, if he can do them. I will enclose you a post office order for eighty-five dollars in my next; if you answer me, that he is at work on them. I suppose by the thirteen dollars he, too, charged me for the three dozen, that every extra dozen will be four twenty-five. Will you inquire please?"
	September 1875	J. Beardsley	Another photograph taken in Ithaca NY in September 1875 while HPB was visiting Professor Hiram Corson and writing Isis Unveiled. It appeared as the frontispiece of the November, 1928 issue of The Theosophist as "An Unpublished Photograph of H.P.B. about 1879," but that year is incorrect.
	1876-1878	Edsall Photographic Studio	Taken in New York.
	1877	Napoleon Sarony	Taken in New York and used as a frontispiece in early editions of Isis Unveiled.
	ca 1877-1878	Unknown
	1878	Unknown
	1878	William R. O'Donovan	Bronze medallion sculpted by William R. O'Donovan, who knew visited Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott at The Lamasery. His friendship and the medallion are described by Olcott in Old Diary Leaves, Volume 1, pages 411-412.
	1878-1879	Unknown	Fragment of a larger photograph.
File:HPB in 1881.jpg	1881	Unknown
	ca1882	Unknown	From BlavatskyTheosophy.com.
	1882-1884	Unknown	HPB with T. Subba Row and Babaji ca 1882-1884. From New York Public Library Digital Collection.
	1884-1885	Hermann Schmiechen	Fragment of painting by Hermann Schmiechen.
	1884-1885	Hermann Schmiechen	Larger version of painting by Hermann Schmiechen.
	1887	Unknown	Photo of HPB reading a book "while residing in Maycot, Crownhill, Upper Norwood, London, at Mabel Collins' home She left Ostend for London, May 1, 1887." Scanned by Theosophical Society in Archives.
	1887	Unknown
	possibly 1887	Unknown	HPB with a fan.
	1888	William Quan Judge	This view is of HPB at her desk at 17 Landsdowne Road, London, taken by William Quan Judge with a Kodak camera as she was working on Lucifer. The picture was originally published in The Path, New York, Vol. VII, May, 1892, p.39." Mr. Judge wrote of the occasion: [No photographs] were obtained of her as she paused in her work until in 1888 this little photograph seized her, after consent, just as she was beginning the day’s work on Lucifer, then in its babyhood. She had, only a short while before, come out from the room behind her and sat down at the desk on which the first pages of Lucifer were begun and whereon most, if not all, of The Secret Doctrine was written. The pen in her hand is an American Gold pen given to her by a New York Theosophist and made by John Foley, whose name is known to thousands of writers. The sheet of paper in front is a sheet of the MSS. of The Secret Doctrine, and others lie about. This copy of the photograph was provided courtesy of Will Thackara at International Theosophical Society (Pasadena); restoration of photo by Vladimir Krasnoperov.
	1888	Unknown	Taken October, 1888 in London. HPB is seated next to her sister, Vera de Zhelihovsky. Standing behind them are Vera Johnston, Charles Johnston, and Henry Steel Olcott.
	1888	Unknown	H. P. Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott in their final meeting, taken in October 1888 in London. In the photographic reproduction in Collected Writings, X, 176; shows the following handwritten message by H.P.B.: 'To the Aryan Theosophical Society of New York, with H.P.B.'s and the H.S.O.'s good wishes', London, October, 1888.
	January 8, 1889	Enrico Resta	"The Sphinx" pose - the most famous image of HPB. This was taken in Resta's studio at 4 Coburg Place, Bayswater, London on January 8, 1889. Six glass plates were taken altogether; in some HPB is looking to the side or is holding a cigarette. The originals are now located in the Archives of the Blavatsky Lodge of the Theosophical Society in England, with duplicates at Elliott & Fry, Ltd. in London. Image from the Theosophical Society in America Archives, scanned from Elliot & Fry print.
	January 8, 1889	Enrico Resta	This is another of the six poses taken in Resta's studio at 4 Coburg Place, Bayswater, London on January 8, 1889.
	January 8, 1889	Enrico Resta	This is another of the six poses taken in Resta's studio at 4 Coburg Place, Bayswater, London on January 8, 1889. From Blavatsky Archives.
File:Resta portrait 4.jpg	January 8, 1889	Enrico Resta	This is another of the six poses taken in Resta's studio at 4 Coburg Place, Bayswater, London on January 8, 1889. From Blavatsky Archives.
	1890	Unknown	HPB sitting in a bath-chair, with G. R. S. Mead (right) and James Morgan Pryse. Taken in London.
	1891	Unknown	Side view of death mask of HPB as printed in May 1991 issue of The Theosophist.,
	1891	Unknown	Front view of death mask of HPB, as printed on the cover of the May 1913 issue of The American Theosophist.
	1890	Unknown	HPB sitting in a bath-chair.
	1890-1891	Unknown	HPB in a white lace shawl holding a copy of The Path. Probably the last photo taken of her.
	ca1889-1909	Gutzon Borglum	Painted for his Theosophist father by the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, copied from the Resta photograph. This painting hangs in the Meditation Room in the headquarters building of the Theosophical Society in America. It was painted between 1889 and 1909, when the father died.
	ca1893	P. Vishnevsky	This engraving is from the Russian book «Загадочные племена на Голубых горах в дебрях Индии. Дурбар в Лагоре». СПб, 1893. (Mysterious Tribes from the Blue Mountains in the Deep of India; Durbar in Lahor, St.Peterburg, 1893.) Thanks go to Oleg Boldyrev and Pavel Malakhov for providing it. The location of the original art is unknown.
	1896	Unknown	This is the cover art for a purported autobiography dictated from beyond the grave by Madame Blavatsky, Posthumous Memoirs by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Joseph M. Wade, in the preface to this work, described how the spirit of George W. Stephens operated a typewriting machine designed by G. W. N. Yost, whose spirit supervised the operation. The typewriter was enclosed in a cabinet placed a few feet away from a medium who was connecting with HPB. Published in Boston by Jos. M Wade and in London by H. A. Copley 1896. Available from Library of Congress. The image may be an automatic drawing.
	1907	Govinda Pillai	This statue stands in the Great Hall of the Headquarters Building in Adyar, Chennai, India. "The Colonel stands beside H. P. Blavatsky, who is seated, with his hand on her shoulder, an upright, robust figure, with venerable beard and strongly cut features." The statue was unveiled on December 7, 1907." Colonel Olcott had died on February 17 of that year, and the unveiling was an occasion to honor him and his work with Madame Blavatsky. Tribute addresses were given by Sir S. Subramania Iyer, Mr. V. C. Seshachariar, Dr. W. A. English, Mr. P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar, Mr. Sitarama Shastri, Mrs. Russak, and Annie Besant.
	1931	Z. Vanessa Helder	Sketch published in World Theosophy vol. 1 no. 8, August 1931, p. 599.
	1930s-1950s	Unknown	This is a FAKE photo of HPB with the "Ascended Masters." See "The Fake Photo" at BlavatskyTheosophy.com website for more information.
	Unknown, before 2000s	Unknown	This pencil drawing was made from the 1850s photograph. It was scanned from a reproduction of the pencil drawing in Theosophical Society in America Archives.
	2000s	Unknown
	2015-2016	Alexey Leonov
	2000s	Alexey Leonov	In 2015-2016, bronze versions of this pose were installed at the Theosophical Society headquarters in Adyar, Chennai, India, and at the International Theosophical Centre in Naarden, The Netherlands. These installations were facilitated by Dialogue of Cultures - United World Fund.