Reginald Machell

The Path

Reginald Willoughby Machell (1854-1927) was an English painter whose best-known work is The Path. After he met H. P. Blavatsky in London in 1888, he joined the Theosophical Society. A few years later he moved to California and lived at Point Loma.

Early years and education

Reginal Machell was born in Crackenthorpe, Westmorland, England, in 1854. During his education at Uppingham School and at Owens College, he was awarded many prizes for his drawing and for his study of the classics. He married Ada Mary Simpson in 1875. That same year, he traveled to London to continue study, and the next year attended the Académie Julien in Paris.

Theosophical Society

Machell had the opportunity to meet H. P. Blavatsky:

In 1887, through a friend of one of his aunts, Machell was introduced to Theosophy and eventually to Helena Blavatsky herself. Machell joined the Theosophical Society and in 1890 did some interior decoration in Blavatsky's Regents Park residence. He later moved his studio to the same building and the character of his work began to change toward mysticism and symbolism.

Artistic career

Machell took up a career in 1880 as a portrait painter. He became was a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, and exhibited at the Royal Academy. He illustrated two works by American novelist Irene Osgood. An Idol's Passion was a novel of "Oriental romance" dealing with the paranormal, published in a large and lavish folio edition. The Chant of the Lonely Soul was published the following year.

Leaving for Point Loma in 1900 with his son Montague, Machell arrived on December 28 in the same party as Charles J. Ryan. Machell became actively involved with the decoration of the Lomaland buildings including architectural ornamentation, painted wall designs, and carved furniture and screens. He also carved his own frames which became an integral part of his paintings. Machell was a prolific writer and illustrator for the periodical publications on Point Loma as well as books such as Kenneth Morris' The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed (1914). He also frequently took part in the many dramatic productions including being appropriately cast as Phidias in "The Aroma of Athens." Machell's work is mystical in the extreme and certainly the most didactic of any of the Lomaland artists. It combines both Pre-Raphaelite and Art Nouveau stylistic tendencies. The whip-lash line and entwined tendrils typical of the Art Nouveau style are particularly evident in his wood carving.

His creativity in furniture making was noteworthy:

At Point Loma, he carved chairs, screens and stools decorated with forms reminiscent of Art Nouveau, Celtic interlace, Gothic tracery, flames and wings. They are wonderfully inventive, completely unlike any other furniture made in America. The throne he created for Tingley is typical: the back and sides of the chair are carved into fantastic writhing shapes and the whole is painted in a cream color. In effect, the chair is a platform for a collection of carved panels, a virtuoso display of design and chisel-work. But it’s not a great example of sound construction: the joints are held together with pegs, which are notoriously prone to coming loose. As for the symbolism of the intertwining elements of the disk and the winglike forms above, it’s anybody’s guess. Machell left no explanation

His work was exhibited at the Panama California Exposition in San Diego in 1915, along with that of three other Point Loma artists - Leonard Lester, Maurice Braun, and Edith White.

Later years

Machell died in San Diego on October 8, 1927.

Additional resources

• Some of Machell's other paintings can be viewed at a BBC (British Broadcasting Company) web page.[6]