Ithell Colquhoun (1906 – 1988)

Ithell Colquhoun (1906 – 1988)
The Dance of The Nine Opals, 1942
Oil on canvas
55 x 69 cm

Ithell Colquhoun was a British painter, occultist, poet and author. One of the most radical artists of her generation, Colquhoun employed many Surrealist automatist techniques in her writing and painting of the early 1930s and later became part of the British Surrealist Group before she was expelled for refusing to renounce her association with occult groups. Known for exploring myths, magic and sexuality, Colquhoun made several studies of plants that can be seen to carry a Surrealist ‘double image.’