Georgiana Houghton
Subtitle: spirit drawings
By: Simon Grant, Lars Bang Larsen and Marco Pasi ; edited by Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen and Barnaby Wright
Contributors: Courtauld Institute Galleries; Monash University. Museum of Art
Publisher: The Courtauld Gallery
Published: 2016
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 83
ISBN-13: 9781911300021
Subjects: Exhibitions
Other titles: Spirit drawings
Description: Georgiana Houghton was a spiritualist medium who, in the 1860s and 1870s, produced a remarkable series of largely abstract watercolours. Detailed explanations on the back of the works declare that her hand was guided by various spirits, including several Renaissance artists and higher angelic beings. In 1871 Houghton rented a gallery in Old Bond Street and presented her 'spirit drawings' to a startled London audience. One critic pronounced it to be "the most astonishing exhibition in London at the present moment". The visual power of the works and their pioneering use of abstract forms make them remarkable products of Victorian culture and fascinating precursors to later concerns of modern art. However, they are almost completely unknown today. This publication, which accompanies an exhibition at The Courtauld Gallery, is the first devoted to Houghton's spirit drawings and brings them to light after 150 years in obscurity--Back cover.
Notes: Catalog of an exhibition held at the Courtauld Gallery, June 16-September 11, 2016. Organised in collaboration with Monash University Museum of Art.

Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Director's foreword; title: "Works of art without parallel in the world" : Georgiana Houghton's Spirit Drawings / Simon Grant and Marco Pasi; title: Spectres of art / Lars Bang Larsen and Marco Pasi; title: CATALOGUE; title: Catalogue introduction / Ernst Vegelin van Claebergen and Barnaby Wright; title: List of works.