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ARTICLE UNDER CONSTRUCTION
ARTICLE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Blavatsky portraits and photographs 

These are photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other depictions of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, also known as HPB.

This collection of photos was inspired by a display of photos 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. [1][2]

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
H.Hahn and H.Blavatsky.jpg 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.
Lovely Maiden portrait of HPB.jpg 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.[3]

HPB young in furs.jpg 1850s Unknown Young HPB dressed in furs.
HPB in hoop skirt JPEG.jpg 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.[4]

HPB - NY.JPG 1870s Napoleon Sarony? H. P. Blavatsky in New York days, from blavatskyarchives.com
HPB portrait 9.jpg 1870s Unknown Photograph reproduced in A. P. Sinnett's Incidents in the Life of Mme. Blavatsky.[5]
HPB by spiritualist photographer.jpg 1874 Unknown Portrait by a spiritualist photographer.
HPB by Beardsley 1875 smoking.jpg 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?"[6][7]

HPB by Beardsley 1875 standing.jpg September 1875 J. Beardsley Another photograph taken in Ithaca NY in September 1875 while HPB was visiting Professor Hiram Corson and writing Isis Unveiled.
HPB portrait Edsall Studio.jpg 1876-1878 Edsall Photographic Studio Taken in New York.
HP Blavatsky 1877.jpg 1877 Napoleon Sarony Taken in New York and used as a frontispiece in early editions of Isis Unveiled.[8]
HPB with fur sash.jpg 1878 Unknown
Bronze medallion.jpg 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.
HPB in 1880s.jpg 1878-1879 Unknown Fragment of a larger photograph.
File:HPB in 1881.jpg 1881 Unknown
HPB portrait.jpg 1884-1885 Hermann Schmiechen Fragment of painting by Hermann Schmiechen.
HPB Schmeichen portrait.jpg 1884-1885 Hermann Schmiechen Larger version of painting by Hermann Schmiechen.
HPB reading book JPEG.jpg 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."[9] Scanned by Theosophical Society in Archives.
HPBphoto.jpg 1887 Unknown
HPB with fan.jpg possibly 1887 Unknown HPB with a fan.
1888 Kodak photo by W Q Judge.jpg 1887 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."[10] 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.[11]

This copyof the photograph was provided courtesy of Will Thackara at International Theosophical Society (Pasadena); restoration of photo by Pavel Malakhov.

HPB and family.jpg 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.
HPB and HSO final meeting JPEG.jpg 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.[12]

HP Blavatsky 1.jpg 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. Image from the Theosophical Society in America Archives.
HPB smoking.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.
HPB in white lace.jpg 1890-1891 Unknown HPB in a white lace shawl holding a copy of The Path. Probably the last photo taken of her.
HPB with Mead and Pryse.jpg 1890 Unknown HPB sitting in a bath-chair, with G. R. S. Mead (right) and James Morgan Pryse. Taken in London.
HPB in bath-chair.jpg 1890 Unknown HPB sitting in a bath-chair.
HPB death mask.jpg 1891 Unknown Death mask of HPB as printed in May 1991 issue of The Theosophist.
Borglum portrait of HPB.jpg 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.
Founders stature in Adyar.jpg 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.[13]
Helder - Sketch of HPB.jpg 1931 Z. Vanessa Helder Sketch published in World Theosophy vol. 1 no. 8, August 1931, p. 599.
Blavatsky HP - stature with sphynx.jpg 2000s Unknown
Blavatsky HP - head (A.Leonov) 1.jpg 2015-2016 Alexey Leonov
Blavatsky HP - head (A.Leonov) 2.jpg 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.
  1. John Algeo turned "A Pictorial Look at H.P. Blavatsky" into a PDF file that he printed out. A copy is in the John Algeo Papers, Records Series 08.12, Theosophical Society in America Archives, and that was the impetus for this project. The URL was http://www.theosophycanada.com/bios/HPB_Bio.htm. It was printed on June 18, 2005. A backup is available on the Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive, for the date November 5, 2005.
  2. Slide show called "HP Blavatsky - A Pictorial Biography" is available at Theosophy Canada, along with individual photographs. Accessed November 13, 2018.
  3. Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.
  4. Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.
  5. Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.
  6. Eugene Rollin Corson, Some Unpublished Letters of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (London: Rider & Co., 1929), 171.
  7. Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.
  8. Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.
  9. Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.
  10. Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.
  11. William Quan Judge, Echoes of the Orient Volume 1 Second edition (Pasadena: Theosophical University Press, 2009), 262. Compiled by Dara Eklund.
  12. Description from Theosophy Canada website, 2005.
  13. "The Unveiling of Colonel Olcott's Statue," World Theosophy 2.12 (December, 1932), 634-636.