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| Spiritualist artist Georgiana Houghton gets UK exhibition | Spiritualist artist Georgiana Houghton gets UK exhibition |
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| She has been dismissed as an eccentric, amateur artist who claimed to talk to the dead and receive their help with her watercolours. But Georgiana Houghton’s abstract style is beginning to be recognised as being decades ahead of painters in a similar vein such as Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian. Now the fascinating story of the overlooked Victorian artist is to be told in the first UK exhibition of Houghton’s work in nearly 150 years. | She has been dismissed as an eccentric, amateur artist who claimed to talk to the dead and receive their help with her watercolours. But Georgiana Houghton’s abstract style is beginning to be recognised as being decades ahead of painters in a similar vein such as Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian. Now the fascinating story of the overlooked Victorian artist is to be told in the first UK exhibition of Houghton’s work in nearly 150 years. |
| It will be presented next month at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. The gallery’s curator of 20th-century art, Barnaby Wright, said Houghton’s works were extraordinary and pre-dated works by artists considered abstract pioneers by some 40 years. They are also ahead of works by the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint whose turn-of-the-century abstract works are on display at the Serpentine Gallery in London. | It will be presented next month at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. The gallery’s curator of 20th-century art, Barnaby Wright, said Houghton’s works were extraordinary and pre-dated works by artists considered abstract pioneers by some 40 years. They are also ahead of works by the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint whose turn-of-the-century abstract works are on display at the Serpentine Gallery in London. |
| “I think Houghton does count as being among the first abstract artists,” said Wright. “She is obviously earlier than Klimt. If one is playing that race then she she steals a march.” | “I think Houghton does count as being among the first abstract artists,” said Wright. “She is obviously earlier than Klimt. If one is playing that race then she she steals a march.” |
| Wright recalled being given an image of a Houghton work. “I fell straight into the trap of saying it was a piece of 1960s or 1970s psychedelia,” he said. “Turns out it was 1865. I was a hundred years out.” | Wright recalled being given an image of a Houghton work. “I fell straight into the trap of saying it was a piece of 1960s or 1970s psychedelia,” he said. “Turns out it was 1865. I was a hundred years out.” |
| Most of the loans for the Courtauld show are coming from the Victorian Spiritualists’ Union in Melbourne, Australia, the proud owner since 1910 of around 35 works by Houghton. | Most of the loans for the Courtauld show are coming from the Victorian Spiritualists’ Union in Melbourne, Australia, the proud owner since 1910 of around 35 works by Houghton. |
| “In terms of artistic quality they are well above and beyond what one might normally associate with amateur practitioners of an eccentric kind,” said Wright. “These are exquisite as watercolours … they are compelling just on their own terms.” | “In terms of artistic quality they are well above and beyond what one might normally associate with amateur practitioners of an eccentric kind,” said Wright. “These are exquisite as watercolours … they are compelling just on their own terms.” |
| Houghton, born in 1814, was an ardent and well-known promoter of spiritualism, a movement that attracted many believers in Victorian England and was later championed by such figures as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. | Houghton, born in 1814, was an ardent and well-known promoter of spiritualism, a movement that attracted many believers in Victorian England and was later championed by such figures as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. |
| She was a trained artist and medium and pioneered the use of drawing as a method of channeling and expressing communications with the dead. | She was a trained artist and medium and pioneered the use of drawing as a method of channeling and expressing communications with the dead. |
| Houghton would host a seance, talk to her spirit guide and draw complex, colourful and layered watercolours. They anticipate the works both of abstract 20th-century artists and the later Surrealists who engaged with automatic and unconscious drawings. | Houghton would host a seance, talk to her spirit guide and draw complex, colourful and layered watercolours. They anticipate the works both of abstract 20th-century artists and the later Surrealists who engaged with automatic and unconscious drawings. |
| Kandinsky and Mondrian were fascinated by spiritualism, although whether they were directly influenced by her work is not known, said Wright. | Kandinsky and Mondrian were fascinated by spiritualism, although whether they were directly influenced by her work is not known, said Wright. |
| Houghton initially said she used dead members of her family as spirit guides, such as her late sister Zilla, but later communed with the Renaissance artists Titian and Correggio. | Houghton initially said she used dead members of her family as spirit guides, such as her late sister Zilla, but later communed with the Renaissance artists Titian and Correggio. |
| On the back of the works Houghton would, in a form of automatic writing, talk about what particular dots or swirls or colours might have meant. | On the back of the works Houghton would, in a form of automatic writing, talk about what particular dots or swirls or colours might have meant. |
| In 1871 Houghton hired a prestigious gallery space in Bond Street to exhibit 155 of her spirit drawings, spending every day there over the course of three months so she could discuss them with visitors. | In 1871 Houghton hired a prestigious gallery space in Bond Street to exhibit 155 of her spirit drawings, spending every day there over the course of three months so she could discuss them with visitors. |
| Audiences were understandably perplexed by the unfamiliar style, though not necessarily in a bad way. One critic compared the drawings to late Turner. A writer from the Era newspaper called it “the most astonishing exhibition in London at the present moment”. | Audiences were understandably perplexed by the unfamiliar style, though not necessarily in a bad way. One critic compared the drawings to late Turner. A writer from the Era newspaper called it “the most astonishing exhibition in London at the present moment”. |
| Another from the Daily News said they were like “tangled threads of cotton wool” and concluded: “They deserve to be seen as the most extraordinary and instructive example of artistic aberration.” | Another from the Daily News said they were like “tangled threads of cotton wool” and concluded: “They deserve to be seen as the most extraordinary and instructive example of artistic aberration.” |
| But despite the critical interest, the exhibition was not a commercial success and it almost bankrupted Houghton. | But despite the critical interest, the exhibition was not a commercial success and it almost bankrupted Houghton. |
| She continued talking to her guides, making her extraordinary near-abstract watercolours, until she joined her friends in 1884. | She continued talking to her guides, making her extraordinary near-abstract watercolours, until she joined her friends in 1884. |
| Wright said Houghton’s watercolours were too good to be dismissed. “They are really captivating and deserve to be thought about rather deeply. They do move you on an emotional level. | |
| “Part of the point of doing the exhibition is to share these works, allow people to engage with them and decide for themselves what power they have as artworks. I certainly believe they have a remarkable visual power and high artistic quality … they deserve to be appreciated and further explored.” | “Part of the point of doing the exhibition is to share these works, allow people to engage with them and decide for themselves what power they have as artworks. I certainly believe they have a remarkable visual power and high artistic quality … they deserve to be appreciated and further explored.” |
| More than 20 are due to go on display at the Courtauld, the first time they will have been seen in a UK show since 1871. | More than 20 are due to go on display at the Courtauld, the first time they will have been seen in a UK show since 1871. |
| About 50 Houghton works are known about, most of them in Melbourne. The College of Psychic Studies in west London is lending an album of eight works to the exhibition. | About 50 Houghton works are known about, most of them in Melbourne. The College of Psychic Studies in west London is lending an album of eight works to the exhibition. |
| Where are the rest? “Somewhere out there is presumably a pretty big cache of these remarkable drawings and we hope one or two might resurface during the show,” said Wright. | Where are the rest? “Somewhere out there is presumably a pretty big cache of these remarkable drawings and we hope one or two might resurface during the show,” said Wright. |
| • Georgiana Houghton: Spirit Drawings at the Courtauld Gallery, London, 16 June-11 September. | • Georgiana Houghton: Spirit Drawings at the Courtauld Gallery, London, 16 June-11 September. |