{"id":248988,"date":"2025-05-20T11:31:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T11:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/a-new-exhibition-brings-fresh-recognition-to-a-groundbreaking-but-largely-forgotten-surrealist\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T11:31:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T11:31:20","slug":"a-new-exhibition-brings-fresh-recognition-to-a-groundbreaking-but-largely-forgotten-surrealist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=248988","title":{"rendered":"A New Exhibition Brings Fresh Recognition to a Groundbreaking But Largely Forgotten Surrealist"},"content":{"rendered":"


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At London\u2019s Tate Britain, a major retrospective takes a long look at the work of Margaret Ithell Colquhoun<\/h2>\n
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Amy Crawford<\/a><\/p>\n

– Contributing Writer<\/span><\/p>\n

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Connections between the natural world, the divine and the erotic were a favorite theme for Colquhoun, who described Earth Process<\/em>, 1940, as an \u201cimage from a half-conscious experience.\u201d
\n Tate, presented by the National Trust 2016. \u00a9 Tate. Photo \u00a9 Tate (Sam Day)<\/span>
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British artist and writer Margaret Ithell Colquhoun<\/a> was a pioneer of Surrealist \u201cautomatism,\u201d creating images from charcoal shavings or letting her unconscious take charge of a pen. Such methods had a \u201cdivinatory power,\u201d she explained, comparing them to \u201cthe practices of clairvoyants who use \u2026 tea leaves and coffee grounds to set in motion their telepathic faculty.\u201d While she traveled in the same circles as household names like Salvador Dal\u00ed<\/a>, Colquhoun broke with Surrealism in 1940 to focus on the occult, a move that may have contributed to her relative obscurity by the time of her death in 1988.<\/p>\n

This month, however, a major retrospective of Colquhoun\u2019s work<\/a> will open at London\u2019s Tate Britain, after a stint at the museum\u2019s Cornwall branch. It\u2019s the first since her rediscovery by a new generation of artists drawn to her explorations of women\u2019s sexuality, spirituality and the natural world. \u201cOver the years I have followed the path blazed by Colquhoun,\u201d writes the British artist Linder Sterling<\/a>, in an essay about the show, and felt \u201cher encouragement from beyond the grave.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Gorgon,

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Gorgon<\/em>, Ithell Colquhoun, 1946.<\/p>\n

Private Collection \u00a9 Spire Healthcare, \u00a9 Noise Abatement Society, \u00a9 Samaritans<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"Ages

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Ages of Man<\/em>, Ithell Colquhoun, 1944.<\/p>\n

Tate, Presented by the National Trust 2016, accessioned 2022 \u00a9 Tate. Photo \u00a9 Tate (Joe Humphrys)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"Alcove,

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Alcove<\/em>, Ithell Colquhoun, 1946.<\/p>\n

Private Collection \u00a9 Spire Healthcare, \u00a9 Noise Abatement Society, \u00a9 Samaritans<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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